A Dozen Demons of War
by SacredStoneFury
Summary: Dragon, horse, tiger, dog, rooster, rat, monkey, oxe, pig, snake, sheep, and rabbit. An heiress to a small clan must harness these 12 powers when the third great ninja war begins. Shino has his hands full with these new students. cameo characters
1. Prologue: Vengeance

**A Dozen Demons**

((Welcome, one and all to my wonderful, in-the-works, Naru fic. I am your guide, SSF. Now then, this is going to be one of those fics where you, the reader, review this first chapter with a character, or cameo, which I shall insert into the fanfiction at one point or another. However, I am out to settle the two problems I often find with these fics:

1) They die. I can promise you that this fic, at no point will full-out die. I will try to keep my updates at a pace of about one every two weeks, but it may take longer, though two months is gonna be my limit.

2) I review with a character and the writer turns out to be total crap. This annoys me to no end. So, to remedy this, I will provide you with a prologue that will both set up the main character's story and give you something to grade me by.

Also, to those of you who found this using the search engine with the names 'Naruto' and 'Hinata', I promise they will become major roles later on. And I mean _major_ roles. I apologize for requiring you to wait for them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

Now, enjoy!))

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**Prologue: Vengeance**

A man skidded to a halt near the edge of a small clearing with his red, shoulder length hair swaying at the loss of momentum. He breathed heavily from his efforts over the last few minutes as his face dripped with sweat. His ninja uniform, vest and all, flapped ever-so-slightly in the cool night breeze.

He raised his eyes, filled with rage, to another man at the center of the clearing. "I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch!" screamed the red haired man, his voice cracking in fury.

The other man gasped overdramatically, bringing his pale hand up to his mouth, allowing his black hood to keep his face mostly hidden. "You wouldn't!" he yelled in a false girly tone. He continued in his true, soft-hearted voice. "Please, Da-su. Do you really think a chuunin will be able to defeat an elite assassin?" He flashed down his sand hitai-ate to show the country he was from before replacing it under his hood. "You've barely been able to keep up with me as it is."

"You murdered my wife!"

The killer shrugged. "Job's a job. You should be grateful I was in a good mood, or your child would be dead, too. Are you sure you want to leave it without a father?"

"I don't care! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" The red-headed ninja did a dozen quick hand signs before calling out, "Guntaishiki Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Complete Zodiac Jutsu) Everything about him perked up as he took a basic battle stance.

The man with the hood sighed. "Very well. Know that it was Kuroji that killed you." In an instant, his black suit merged with the darkness around him.

Da-su looked around cautiously. He activated a defensive style of his jutsu with a short muttering. His skin hardened, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the attack. There was a long silence in which everything was still; only the sound of natural forest life surrounded him.

Then, the red-head heard a yell from behind him. "Ninpou: Ketatamashii Ken!" (Ninja Art: Piercing Blade)

The red-head spun into a right handed punch. It hit its mark, nailing the assassin in the center of the chest. A shockwave of chakra emitted from the point of contact, sending Kuroji flying deep into the nearby woods.

Da-su stood there in that position a moment. Then, he began to fall sideways limply. He landed with a soft clank and thud as the sword that had killed him hit the ground behind his back, propping the body up slightly. The slash went through his left shoulder into his heart, cutting through everything. His body lay there in the silent night, looking somehow triumphant.

Suddenly, a young man, no older than 16, appeared with blue hair flowing in the wind. He stared at the dead man. "Fool…No one lives through an encounter with Kuroji," he stated simply in an obviously progressing teenage voice. He grabbed the blade and withdrew it from the body's chest cavity. Then, he took off into the forest after the assassin, whether he be alive or dead.

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((Please note that this is an INCREDIBLY short chapter for me. My normal chapters are about 4-5k words in length, so if you don't like semi-long chapters, go away now. If you liked it, please read on and kindly review at the end. I thank you for your cooperation.

**Important: I am no longer accepting characters! However, if you are desperate or just feel like being creative you can fill out a character sheet from below. I **_**may**_** end up using these characters if I find a good place for them. It should also be said that if I **_**do**_** use them, it will probably be in a **_**highly**_** modified version.**

Also, note that this is a _Future _Fic, as in the Konoha 12 are all grown up. That aside, here's the stat sheet: **SSF**))

Name:

Age: (preferably 11-13; may be changed)

Appearance: (clothes, hair, etc.)

Personality: (how char acts) ((duh! **SSF**))

Bio: (brief history of char)(also note that it is much appreciated if the characters end up in the Konoha village ninja academy, since that's where I had originally intended for them to come in from)

Focus: (taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, or doujutsu and describe fighting style)

Special Moves: (give names, type [AKA taijutsu, etc.((and please tell me if it is a kekai genkai)), description of the moves, and approximately how far into the journey they should be revealed)

Likes/Dislikes:

Hobbies:

Goals:

Quirks: (anything else I may have forgotten to include)

((Feel free to check out my other stories. They are all finished (or at least postponed), so if you want a completed work, go check them out. I am especially proud of my Comfort From Death story since it is so out of the norm for me. I'm not very good with angst . ))

((PS: I apologize for any mistranslations. Anyone willing to help me in this area is certainly welcome.

SSF out.))


	2. Not Quite Ninja Yet

(Disclaimer: Ah these chips I own are so tasty. I wonder if Naruto would be tasty…Too bad I can't figure out cause I don't own him _or_ anything else about him. T.T

Also, for those of you that don't know grammar: if I don't change paragraphs, it means it's still the same person speaking. Didn't want you getting confused as I tend not to tell who is speaking very often.)

**Chapter 1: Not Quite Ninja Yet**

It was a beautiful morning in Konohagakure. The sun was shining brightly, the sky clear, and the cool breeze comforting. The city was bustling with its usual early morning activity within its beautiful walls. The city seemed joyous in every way…

But one figure wasn't so joyous…

"_Crap, crap, _crap_!" _thought a young girl, not yet in her teens, as she pushed her way through the crowded main streets hurriedly._ "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be _late_!..."_ She turned a corner into a side street and sprinted down it, respiration rapidly increasing. _"…Again!"_

She ran through a couple of alleys as fast as she could, her red, shoulder length hair whipping behind her. Her leaf hitai-ate shined, reflecting the sun from where it was wrapped around her shoulder. The tails of her white shirt and black pants flailed violently behind her. She skidded around another corner and shot down the connecting alley towards the main street once more.

Just before she re-entered the crowd in front of her, she took a sharp left and slid through a nearby door, slamming it shut behind her. She slumped back against the closed door, breathing heavily. "…Made it…" she whispered as she closed her brown eyes, attempting to slow her heart rate.

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, she slowly opened her eyes to view the classroom before her. Every pair of the numerous eyes gazed at her, some with annoyance or bemusement but most blankly. The man standing in front of the class coughed, causing the still gasping redhead to look at him. His slightly wrinkling face turned toward her with a sigh, the scar across his nose clearly visible.

"Taka-san…You're five minutes late…as always…" he murmured the last part in his gruff voice.

"Eh?" Taka jumped to her feet. "Don't tell me I missed my team assignment, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka put his hand on his hitai-ate, which covered his forehead, and shook his head, his graying brown ponytail swinging behind him. "You missed the first five teams-" The girl gasped in horror. "-but your name hasn't been called. So, you're lucky." She let out a deep sigh of relief and sat back down against the door again. "_Really_ lucky. Here's your team right now." Then, to the class as a whole, "Team 6: Koudoukou Taka, Kuwashii Hari, and Rokotsu Katame."

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A man in his early thirties, wearing a heavy trench coat, leaned against the wall beside the only door in the room stoically. The collar of his coat covered half his face with shades covering his eyes and hitai-ate covering the rest of his forehead up to his spiked black hair. His hands were placed comfortably in the pockets of his jacket. He lifted his head slightly and scanned the small classroom, along with its other two inhabitants, from behind his sunglasses.

The closer of the two was a young female, leaning against the top of one of the nearby desks calmly. Her icy blue hair hung in a ponytail behind her head with her hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead and two bangs dropping to her cheeks lazily, gazing with her light purple eyes into space. Black clothing covered most of her torso and limbs with a V around her neck, which, normally revealing cleavage, showed a fishnet shirt. At her waist was a red sash, which held the sheath of some sort of blade.

The man judged her, trying to figure out what to expect from her, as he was usually fairly accurate about this sort of thing, before looking toward the room's final occupant.

He stood near the unoccupied teacher's desk with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently. His bright green hair stood spiked with three stiff bangs hanging in front of his eyes. His dark brown eyes held an annoyed look. Both his nose and mouth were covered up by a red cloth with a square blue tattoo on his visible right cheek along with his hitai-ate, which was tied around his neck. His tan shirt hung loosely on his form with a spiked shoulder pad and soft fur lining his belt. He had a black sash around his waist with an attached shuriken holster on his left side. His loose brown pants were wrapped tightly around his ankles by criss-crossing string. Had he not been so young, the entire outfit would have made him rather intimidating.

The man sighed ever so slightly before staring into space again. A second later, the door burst open as a certain redhead entered and slumped to her knees, looking exhausted. The boy near the teacher's desk dropped his arms to his side and walked over. He stopped in front of her, causing her to look up at him wearily.

"Taka-san…" he started calmly before continuing in an obviously agitated tone, "You're late…Again."

She looked up at him and stuck her tongue out slightly before speaking between breaths. "Sorry…Couldn't—help it—Hari-san."

Hari gave her a sharp glare, which was interrupted by their new sensei walking past them, out the door. Confused, he looked up to see him motioning for them to follow. Without wasting any more time, he helped the brown-eyed kunoichi to her feet before turning to the room's other occupant. "You coming, Katame-san?"

The blue haired girl glanced at him before standing up straight and nodding. The three quickly filed out of the room after their sensei.

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The trench coat wearing man turned to his students. "Tell me about yourselves," he commanded in a deep monotone. They had stopped in the single clearing in a training area, covered in trees. He had waited for them to settle before beginning the conversation.

His three students blinked blankly. Finally, Taka spoke up from where she sat cross legged on the ground, "Like what?"

The man frowned behind his coat collar. Then, he straightened up and assumed a more casual tone. "An example then…My name is Aburame Shino. My favorite food is vegetable soup. My least favorite is tofu balls. My hobby is bug watching."

His students stared at him as if he were insane. Again, the red head spoke first, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Bug watching, Shino-sensei?" He merely nodded as if it weren't strange at all.

Taka stared a second longer with her teammates before coughing in an attempt to change everyone's attention. The three looked at her, Hari shivering uncomfortably as he did so from his position leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

"I guess I'll go first…My name is Koudoukou Taka. My favorite food is pasta, any kind. Least favorite is rice." Her teammates stared at her in disbelief. "Yeah, yeah, it's strange, but I don't care. Moving on…I don't really have a hobby…I just do what I feel like when I feel like it." She paused for a second, considering something before adding, "I also dislike people that lack common sense. They irk me."

Shino nodded and turned toward the two that remained, who were looking at Taka curiously. Upon seeing their looks, she shrugged. "What? Not like I'm the only strange person here, right, Spikey?" She poked one of the spikes on Hari's shoulder pad to emphasize the oddity.

The green haired boy dropped his gaze, grumbling under his breath something that sounded like, "You're the one who needs common sense…" He proceeded to look up at his black haired sensei. "Is it my turn now?" he asked irritably. The Aburame nodded.

"Very well. I am Kuwashii Hari. Don't really have a favorite or least favorite food. I like animals though. My hobby…I guess you could say it's training." The bug user nodded once more turning to the last member of their new team.

The blue haired academy graduate stared up at him from her seated position at the truck of a tree calmly before beginning. "I am Rokotsu Katame. I like scrolls and experimental theories. Favorite food is white rice with tea. I dislike crowds. My hobby is experimenting with new jutsu theories and developing my own."

Taka raised an eyebrow, coming to a slight realization. "Why is it that everyone here has some weird hobby?" she asked no one in particular. Hari frowned and started to protest that his wasn't weird when her raised hand stopped him. "It was a rhetorical question."

"One more thing," interrupted Shino before anything could start, "I need to know. What are your goals?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at their sensei.

Taka blinked a few times before stating casually. "My goal is to restore my authority as the heir of my clan."

The only male on the young team hesitantly followed suit. "My goal…is to become strong enough to defend those I care about."

The remaining child allowed a second of silence before telling her own. "To become strong enough to defend my clan."

There was a silence as the only true shinobi there nodded his acknowledgement. Curious, the red headed mouth of the group spoke up. "Why did you need to know that specifically, Shino-sensei?"

Said teacher considered for a moment before responding honestly. "So I know what training will motivate you most."

An awkward silence fell over them.

Once more, Taka spoke first. "What now?"

Shino looked at her stoically. "I expect you all to meet back here tomorrow morning at 8:00 for your genin exam."

The students' mouths dropped open. This time Hari gathered himself first. "_Another_ exam?" The Aburame nodded.

"But we already graduated!" blurted Taka angrily.

The jounin held his hand out imperatively, demanding silence. Their protests slowly died to grumbles as he gradually retracted his hand to his pocket. "You graduated from the academy-" he affirmed before proceeding, "-but only nine graduates from your class will become genin."

"But there were 30 people in our class!" exclaimed Taka vehemently.

"That's a 30 percent chance of passing," stated Katame for the first time without being required to speak.

Her teammates gaped at her for a second before returning to the matter at hand. "What happens to those that fail?" asked the young male suspiciously.

"They return to the academy," the bug user stated matter-of-factly.

Silence pervaded the area as the team considered what could happen, with Shino waiting patiently. After almost five minutes, the member of the Koudoukou clan finally ended the quiet for a final time that day.

"Hmp…Doesn't seem like we have much choice. Guess I'll see you all tomorrow morning then." She stood up and started walking away. The others nodded to each other and departed as well.

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The young, green haired academy graduate sat leaning against a tree. _"Where is she?...Dang it!"_ he complained mentally. He glanced at the two that stood next to him; his blue haired teammate, Katame, and his teacher, Shino.

He grumbled again, looking around for an approaching figure. Luckily for him, he saw someone coming towards their training field. He stood up as the now obvious girl came within hearing range. "Hey, guys!"

Katame and Shino gave mild actions of acknowledgement as Hari glared at her angrily. "You're late…_Again_!"

Taka shrugged. "It's only five minutes."

He grumbled under his breath before looking at the jounin of the group. "Can we get this started now, Shino-sensei?"

He nodded, walking a few steps and turning around so he was in front of all three. Slowly, he pulled his hand out in front of him. In it was a small, white tag with the symbol of the hidden leaf village on it. "There are three of these tags scattered throughout this training area. You are to locate and obtain them individually-"

"So, we're competing?" interrupted Taka, wanting confirmation.

The bug user stared at her. "That is to be determined by your own mechanizations." The red head rolled her eyes but didn't chase the topic farther. He continued with the explanation of their test. "Retrieve one, and you pass. Retrieve two, and you will not receive any D rank missions." The louder two members' eyes widened. "Retrieve all three, and you will be able to skip genin and go to chuunin." All three students' mouths hit the floor, each creating its own cloud of dust.

Taka recovered first and asked the question the whole team was thinking. "You can do that?"

"I will do what I can to ensure it," he answered apathetically.

The Koudoukou clan member almost jumped with excitement. "When do we get started, then?!"

"Immediately. _But_-" He added the last part to prevent the girl from taking off through the trees. "-you have until 1700 hours tonight. Meet back here at that time."

"Hai!" chorused the younger members, having been taught military time at the academy. The three took off in different directions into the trees, leaving Shino alone.

He frowned. They had gone off in different directions. If this continued, this would be yet another team he would fail for simplistic reasons.

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Taka leapt from tree to tree, gasping for air slightly. It had been nearly an hour since they began combing the area for their targets, though she had taken a break after forty minutes, resuming shortly thereafter.

She paused on a branch and glanced around, catching her breath. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of white near the base of a nearby tree. _"No way!"_ she thought ecstatically. She had to force herself not to jump down next to it out of excitement. _"This can't be that easy…"_

She examined the item and its surroundings more closely. It was indeed the tag she was looking for. However, she also noticed a rather large, as in human-size, caterpillar-like bug hiding behind a tree, watching the white object. Her eyes narrowed on it. _"That must be its guard. I'll hafta stay out of sight."_

She lightly hopped down to the base of the tree she had been in. she slowly approached the target she had to obtain, warily watching the tree that danger lurked behind.

As she came closer, she reached out with her hand, careful to remain hidden from the bug. _"Just a few more steps!..."_ She took another step, glancing at the tag that sat only a few feet from her. She took one more step and…WAM!

Something connected with her back, causing her to gasp briskly and sending her flying past the tag and the tree it sat under.

She screamed, one of both surprise and fury, as she skidded to a halt.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

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(I apologize for lack of action, but hey, it's just getting started. If you couldn't tell at the beginning, I decided to start this using the two characters I received from my betas since no one else seemed willing to give me one of theirs. I will still accept more cameos, but they likely won't be introduced until after the time skip, which is a good distance off.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. And remember…THE REVIEW BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND!)


	3. Genin at Last

((Disclaimer: Aw man! I don't have enough money to buy Naruto! T.T Guess I won't be able to own it any time soon…))

**Genin at Last!**

"Damn it…" Taka cursed under her breath. She struggled inside the sticky silk-like net that had captured her. She grumbled as it grabbed hold of her arms. Obviously, the more she tried to escape, the more trapped she became. It was in times like this that she wished she had a kunai or shuriken. Yet, her family's secret techniques often required the use of hands only; so she had told herself that there was no point getting used to weapons. She made a silent vow not to disregard the advice in the future and get a couple just in case.

She cursed again as she looked back at the tag she had been mere inches away from moments before. In the distance, there sat another giant caterpillar, looking in her direction. The redhead narrowed a glare on her bug captor. She silently swore to get revenge for the damage it had done to her pride.

Then, she heard someone approaching through the trees. She attempted to reposition herself to view that general direction but only succeeded in becoming more tangled. She let out a soft growl of annoyance as the person landed next to her.

"I was wondering who screamed," said the voice beside her. Taka twisted her head in that direction, causing her to fall onto her back when she had previously been in a sitting position. She grunted quietly as she hit the ground. A short laugh sounded from beside her. She turned her head to see the partly masked Hari standing there.

She snarled at him, to which he abruptly stopped laughing. At that point, he was glad his mouth was covered, or she would've seen the humorous smirk on his face. "Sorry. I didn't expect to see you so vulnerable this early in the test."

She fixed him with a powerful leer. "Then, cut me loose so you don't have to."

The green haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Sure, but I'm grabbing the tag as soon as I'm done."

Taka growled. "Fine…Just get me out of this thing!"

He nodded, pulling out a kunai. He quickly cut a large hole in the webbing before turning around. The girl struggled to get free and almost immediately realized she still couldn't. She glanced at the boy to see him running through a short set of hand signs.

"Wait! This isn't-" she started, only to have him complete signs, disappear, and reappear next to the tag, "-enough…" He snatched the target up and with a few more quick hand seals was gone in a second Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu). She stared as the bug's second net, which Hari had dodged, flew past where he had been…-

-And towards her. "Crap…" She was forced into a backward roll by the strength of the impact.

She let out a soft grunt as she landed on her back. _"Damn…" _she thought, _"Well, at least I saw it coming this time…"_ She lifted her head and glanced around. Finding she was alone, the redhead began examining the now double-layered webbing that engulfed her. To her annoyance, she found it to be twice as durable, and it even covered the hole that had been made in the first stratum. She grumbled to herself, knowing she would have to wait for help.

Luckily for her, Katame had heard her initial scream of surprise and arrived less than a minute later.

"Oh, thank Kami! Katame-san, you've _got_ to get me out of this thing!" The stoic kunoichi just stared at her, holding back a snicker. "Oh, come on! I'll even help you find the next tag!" she cried desperately.

The blue haired mystery raised an eyebrow before nodding confirmation of those terms. She walked over, pulling out her wakizashi from its red sheath, and began cutting the odd threads away.

0o0oFive Minutes Later0o0o

"How do you get caught twice?" asked the sword wielder, a hint of irritation clinging to her voice, while she sheathed her short sword.

The Koudoukou clan member shrugged. "Hari-san came by." Not wanting to expand or dig deeper, the two just left it at that. "But thanks for getting me out of that." Katame nodded. "…Guess I have to help you now…" She nodded again. The Koudoukou sighed. "Well, let's go then…We don't want Hari-san getting all three of the tags…" The pair took off into the trees, scanning areas as they went by.

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The green haired child traveled through the trees, looking for the remaining tags. It had been another half hour since he found the first with help of a certain second child's scream, and he was beginning to tire, even after the adrenaline rush he had grabbing the first one. He growled at his own fragility.

"_Gr…I need to find at least one more before the others do…I do _not_ want any stupid D rank missions…They're a waste of ti-"_

His thoughts were cut off as something connected with his side. He let out an "oof" as he hit the trunk of the tree next to him and another as he landed on all fours on the ground. He lay there a moment, catching the breath that had been knocked out of him before slowly pushing himself to a kneeling position.

He was surprised again when a webbing engulfed him from behind. The impact pushed him forward into a nearby tree. He groaned painfully. _"Is someone out to get me today? Sheesh…"_ He gradually lifted himself up, moving as little as possible, having seen what would happen if he moved too much from Taka, until he was once more kneeling.

He scanned the area for the _thing_ that had attacked him. He almost immediately found a giant caterpillar near where he had lain about thirty seconds before. He glared at it angrily.

"_Damn thing…I'm gonna kill you when I get free!"_ his fury vented through his thoughts. Then, he realized two things: the thing was too slow to go from the branch he had originally been hit on to the ground in that short a time, thus it couldn't have been the creature that had hit him there, and its presence more than likely meant that the tag was somewhere nearby!

Being easier to find, the shinobi glanced back at the branch…Yet nothing was there. He squinted his eyes in irritation. "_Wait! That limb can't be natural. I've never seen a tree shaped in that way."_ Upon closer inspection, he found that the 'limb' to have antennae and…eyes?

"What the-?" he whispered in surprise. He quickly shook his head. It must've been some twig-bug or something. He didn't have time to think about such things. This was a timed test after all. He looked around the area for what he _really _wanted….

The tag.

After a quick search, he found it in the last place he thought it would be; right next to him, just out of reach. He leaned towards it, arm outstretched, to no avail. "Damn it!" he hissed fervently. He turned back to glare at the giant larval butterfly. "You bastard! You're dead when I get out of here!" he shouted a little too loudly. Grumbling, he pulled out a kunai and set to work cutting his way out of the webbed net.

A short time later, he had freed most of his upper body. He glanced at the tag that sat a few feet away anxiously as he cut free his right arm. He looked back at the net, cutting it furiously.

As soon as he was able, he reached out with his arms and half-crawled towards where the tag had been, but as he looked up, he saw, not the object he was after, but a foot with a ninja sandal on it. He grimaced, staring up at who had taken his target object.

Rokotsu Katame stood there with her arms crossed, a sliver of white showing in her hand. Taka stood a few feet behind her, looking _very_ annoyed. Hari cursed loudly, punching the ground. He glared daggers up at the purple eyed Katame. "How!?"

She stared back at him evenly, without responding. Finally, the girl behind her grew too irritated to wait any longer. She stepped up next to the blue haired wonder. "Who exactly were you going to kill when you got free?" she asked as evenly as she could manage.

He twitched noticeably, keeping them in his crosshairs. "Said that a bit too loud, didn't I?"

"Hai."

He grunted and rolled halfway around on the ground so that he was sitting, returning to the process of cutting himself free. He glanced at the bug he still wished to kill in many evil ways and noticed that it was staring, if it even could stare, directly in their direction. He flinched, unable to continue slicing in comfort. He hesitantly raised a finger to point at it and asked over his shoulder, while warily staring at the critter. "Why isn't it blasting us?"

Katame raised an eyebrow as Taka snarled beside her. "Do we _really_ need this guy to help with the last tag?" whispered the red head in a heated rage, "I mean, he left me for dust when he took the first one!" Her partner nodded conclusively, bringing a vexed growl from the girl.

"Oh, Silent One, here," she said, getting back to the boy's question, "used…What was it called?"

"Magen: Kokoni Arazu no jutsu." (Demonic Illusions: False Surroundings Jutsu)

"Yeah, that. It's some genjutsu that changes how the victim sees its surroundings…"

"It thinks there's a tree where it was ordered to guard," stated Katame statistically.

Hari blinked at the pair questioningly. "You can do that?"

The red head rolled her eyes. "Just as you can do Shunshin no jutsu." (Body Flicker Jutsu)

The boy's cloth covered nose scrunched in what one could only assume was a cringe. "True enough." He returned his attention to the webbing around his legs as he raised an eyebrow. "Why are you waiting here anyway? You could be out searching for the final leaf symbol."

"We need your help to get the last tag," stated the blue haired wonder seriously.

He cut the last of the strands restricting his legs and jumped up. "Really now? And who, may I ask, gets the item once we've obtained it?"

"I do." Taka stepped forward with her arms crossed. "Is there a problem with that?" she inquired threateningly.

He grunted. "Then, what do I get from this agreement?"

The girl looked slightly taken aback but quickly recomposed herself with a finger on her chin in a thinking position. After a few moments, she perked up. "The chance to help a fellow shinobi?" she asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "Not good enough."

"The chance to end this quickly," interjected Katame matter-of-factly.

Hari's eyebrow rose a few inches. "You know where it is then?" She nodded. His tone turned slightly mocking. "And you can't get it?" She shook her head resolutely. He gave a short laugh. "Ha! That's rich! I think I'd rather take my chances alone than with wimps like you." He took off with an arrogant leap into the trees.

The redhead huffed silently. "Idiot…" Calming herself down, she looked at her temporary partner. "Shall we wait for him at the destination?" Her comrade nodded and jumped into a nearby tree with Taka following shortly thereafter.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"So, that's it, way out there?" Taka asked, pointing through a large group of trees. Katame bobbed her head affirmative. The Koudoukou shaded her eyes from the sun, which had now nearly reached its peak. "And you can see that far?" Her companion shook her head.

"I got too close and was caught by the trap."

Taka spun to face her. "So, you've been close enough to see it, right?" A soft nod was her only response. She sat down, crossing her arms. "So, now we wait for the idiot to show his face?" Katame shook her head for the second time. The Koudoukou was about to inquire as to what she meant when a figure jumped past them.

"Thanks for showing me where it is, morons!" The figure cackled evilly only to be interrupted by an "Oof!"

"He followed us," stated the blue haired girl as if it weren't obvious by then.

The brown eyed Taka put a palm on her forehead in slight pity. She glanced up to see Hari about 50 yards towards the tag. "Now, how are we supposed to get him back? I assume that if we go any farther we'll be snared by more traps…" She looked over her shoulder to see her partner already doing hand signs.

"Grab him quickly," she commanded, "This'll put a strain on my chakra." Taka nodded seriously. Katame ran through three more signs before concluding the jutsu. "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no jutsu!" (see above)

As soon as she was finished, Taka sprinted forward and grabbed the boy's collar through the net. Despite protests from the sack, she dragged him with all the strength she could muster back to Katame. Once next to her, she released the bag unceremoniously in the dirt as her ally dropped the genjutsu with an exhausted sigh, sweat forming on her brow.

A few minutes later, Hari was once more free, and the group somewhat rested. It was then that the redhead chose to begin her inquest of the one she had recently mentally dubbed 'green haired freak'… This inquiry consisted of but one question. "Are you going to help us now?"

Said 'green haired freak' grimaced. He didn't want to admit it, but not even he could get passed so many traps with the way they were arranged. He ground his teeth furiously. He hated losing and absolutely _despised_ losing to a bunch of bugs with their ridiculously underdeveloped brains, if they even had brains at all! He loathed the thought enough to decide to join them, but that didn't stop him from trying to save his dignity.

Hoping for an excuse to aid them, he turned to face Katame and eyed her curiously. "Why are you helping her? You already have what you need."

Without hesitating, she answered, "Because there's no point in becoming a higher rank when you didn't work to achieve it, and I see no point in passing unless the whole team passes."

Hari put two fingers on his chin as if thinking, inwardly shouting for joy for her response. "Hmmm… I guess you have a point. Very well. You have my aid."

"Great!" came the exclamation by the side of the pair, "now, does anyone have any ideas on how to get through this minefield." Taka had spread her arms, looking toward the tag, to emphasize the 'minefield' part.

The 'green haired freak's' eye twitched. "You mean you said you _needed_ my help when you don't even have a plan?"

"Oh, shut up and think!"

Hari sat down with a sigh. "I'll do my part in any strategy, but I'm no genius when it comes to such ideas. This is beyond my level."

"Hmmm. Fine. Just having you with us increases our options." Taka held up a single seal. "Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu." (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu)

The dark brown eyes boy gazed at her in astonishment. "What the-?"

"The Zodiac techniques of the Koudoukou clan…" The boy turned in his seat to see a calm Katame. Only her voice and violet eyes betrayed her amazement.

"Meaning…?"

She cocked her head to look at him before explaining. "Her clan is rather…selective with who they teach their hidden arts to. I'm surprised she knows any of them, even though she is the heir to the clan." She added the last part in an undertone to make sure Hari couldn't hear it.

"Uh-huh…" It was obvious he hadn't a clue what she was going on about. "And this rat technique does...?"

"Pumps chakra into the brain, increasing its capacity."

"So, she's thinking faster? Makes sense to use it now then." He concluded with a knowing nod. "How do you know this stuff?"

"I read."

"…Okay…" He spun back around to see Taka staring at the two of them intently.

"Katame-san, how big an area can your genjutsu effect?" she asked purposefully.

Raising an eyebrow, she responded, "A 50 by 50 yard square."

The red head grimaced. "I have a plan…I don't like it, but it's the only one I could come up with…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A final sign flashed through the hands of the blue eyed graduate. "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu." (See Above) She looked up at her two teammates. "Do this quickly," she commanded.

Taka nodded before dashing in the direction of their objective with Hari close on her heels. In her head, she counted the distance they had traveled with the help of her Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu. "35…40…45…NOW!" She leapt into the air, doing a 180 before holding her arms out to stabilize herself.

She looked up to see a fast approaching Kuwashii Hari. She immediately cupped her hands near her crotch in preparation for her part. As soon as they were even in the air, the boy bent one of his knees and placed his foot in her hands.

With an unspoken signal, they both pushed off, sending the 'green haired freak' farther into the sky and leaving the redhead to be hit by two consecutive nets.

The boy flew forward, quickly reaching the height of his launch. As he declined, he glimpsed webbing out of the corner of his eyes. He unhooked the holster on his leg and withdrew two shuriken. He threw them to his right, piercing the silky net, causing it to fall just short of hitting him. The action forced his body into a slow spin.

Suddenly, a second net appeared in the other corner of his vision. Irritated, he pulled out two more of the deadly spinners and flung them into the oncoming object, effectively stopping his aerial spin and delaying the trap enough for him to avoid it. He held out his arms and maneuvered himself so that he was facing the tag once more.

He began a few quick hand signs just before he landed firmly on the ground, finishing as his foot hit land. He immediately disappeared, dodging two more traps where he had been, and reappeared by his target. Yet anon, he was hit by yet _another_ snare. He skidded across the dirt, kicking up dust, with a soft grunt.

Taka stared after his crumpled form from her strapped down position as it stopped. "Did you get it?!" she called anxiously after him.

The boy gave an over extended groan of pain before shouting back, "Wha'd'ya think?" He held a clenched hand out through one of the holes in his enclosure, slowly opening it to reveal a white object laying there.

The girl let out a squeal of joy. "Excellent job, Hari-kun!"

"_Now you'd better give it to me when we're out of this mess or I'm going to hurt you…_badly_," _she thought the last part having already decided to test his trustworthiness.

"Now, how are we supposed to get out of here?" she shouted.

Before she could even _consider_ their options, a scream of panic erupted around her. "Yah! What the hell?! Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me!" Her eyes widened as she lifted them to the frantically flailing Hari.

She frowned. _"Now what?"_ she thought with no minor amount of annoyance. Then, she glimpsed a small movement beyond the boy. Interested, she blinked until her eyes had focused on its source. It was one of the giant caterpillars that had been set to entrap the team in their snares crawling away on its many legs. She raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. _"Guess he knows we've finished."_

She would have pondered how _he_ knew, but she felt a disturbing tingling near her shoulder. She looked at it and-

"AAAAAAHH!" she screamed before going into a state of stunned shock. Her forehead shrunk as her eyes grew to twice their normal size as she stared at, not one, not five, not even a dozen, but a whole _swarm_ of small beetle-like bugs that covered her white case.

"Calm down, both of you." The voice was the stern, apathetic one of Shino, who landed next to Taka from his spot in a nearby tree shortly thereafter. The girl looked up at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. "My kikai bugs are eating through the silk of the kyojin kumoga (giant spider moth) larvae."

The dark emotions cleared from her face as the redhead nodded in understanding. She closed her chocolate brown pools used for sight, and waited for the black horde to cease its activity upon her.

A few short minutes later, she opened her eyes to see Katame standing in front of her. She gave the blue haired girl a questioning glance, only to receive a small jerk in the direction Hari had been. Her gaze drifted toward the boy to see a surprisingly irritated Shino apparently glaring at the still mostly covered and flailing boy. Taka had to stifle a snicker due to the scene.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari lay on the ground in the fetal position, doing his best to give his teacher a death glare and failing miserably thanks to his twitching body. Shino stared down at him stoically from where he stood with Katame on his left, just as apathetic, and Taka on his right, in a fit of giggles.

The mentally damaged form grunted as he sat up, still shivering uncomfortably from his recent experience. "N-Never. Do. Th-That. Again." he demanded, stuttering from the shaking, but still sounding firm none-the-less.

The bug user nodded his assent. The redhead quickly followed with a light jibe. "Looks like speedy is afraid of some tiny little bugs."

The boy shrugged, having finally obtained control over the spasms. "I'm certainly no fan…" he murmured, mostly to himself, though the others heard. He vaulted up, his usual confident air back, "I'm glad that's over."

Shino nodded before bringing up the topic that would determine the group's future. "Where are your targets?"

Without hesitation, Katame reached into her shuriken holster and brought forth the white slip he was referring to, holding it out in her open palm. The jounin examined it for trickery with the aid of a few of his bugs, and, finding none, he looked toward the remaining two.

Taka stood with her hand outstretched expectantly, the boy in front of her staring at it warily. He flinched as the girl's glare increased in intensity. Hesitantly, he held out his closed fist over her hand.

With one last wistful glance, he unfurled his fingers and allowed the tag to fall into her waiting palm.

She reached up and patted the top of his spiky hair as if he were a dog. "Good boy." Hari's eye twitched as he resisted the urge to punch the mocking smile before him.

Upon seeing this and the other tag clutched in the shoulder spike wearing boy's hands, Shino smiled his invisible smile. "Good." He paused, glad to know they had seen through his empty lies. "You all pass." A cheer erupted from the loudest member of the team.

"Oh yeah! Never a doubt in my mind!"

Seeing the serious stares from the other three she fell silent. Soon after, Katame turned toward their teacher with a slight look of inquiry. "Aburame-sensei, what would have happened if someone had kept more than one?"

Taka sneered. _"Aburame-sensei? Suck up…"_

The bug user stared at her silently, knowing this would reveal his forced trickery, but she had played her cards well and now insisted that he show his hand. Resigned to his fate, he spoke plainly. "You would have failed."

He watched with a frown hidden behind his collar as the other two students' jaws fell open. Katame stood on the side with a smirk plastered to her face. _"Only she saw through me…" _he thought sullenly.

The stunned voice of Hari brought him back to reality, "What?...B-But you said-"

"Sacrifice is often necessary during missions. This test showed me what you would sacrifice at those times. Allowing others to crumble while you complete the mission are not the actions of a shinobi of the Leaf. For that reason, you all pass my test."

He scanned the group, finding two stunned and one smug face. For the moment, no one pursued the subject.

The red head placed her palm on her forehead and shook her head lightly. "I may not understand what we were tested on, or why we were tested on it, but we passed, right?" She looked up at her teacher hopefully. After his head bobbed, she gave a relieved sigh. "Good. That's all I need to know." With that, she turned on her heels and began walking away.

Shino's deep voice called after her. "First mission is at 8:00 tomorrow morning." A slight wave told him that she heard.

"See ya tomorrow, Shino-sensei, Katame-san." After receiving a pair of brief nods, the boy followed in his new friend's footsteps.

As soon as he was out of earshot, the bug user glanced at the strange, blue haired girl. "We shall have to make sure they understand teamwork soon, they shall fail as shinobi." The girl smiled politely, gave a bow, and did as the others had before her.

"_They lack insight, but with the speed at which they accomplished such a task, they have much potential."_ With that comforting thought, he followed in the wakes of his students.


	4. Missions

I have noticed that I naturally placed Shino's appearance as he was before the time skip. This is intentional. I figured that one: he would take after his father and revert back to the un-hooded trench coat and two: I just plain like him better that way.

Also, I am assuming that since he has grown up, Naruto will have matured at least somewhat. If his seriousness confuses you, that's the reasoning behind it (as well as the fashion change).

Also, this chapter has been editted twice because of idiotic mistakes I made. Hopefully, it has made it easier to read and more entertaining with the scene I added.

Disclaimer: Me: bound and gagged Mmm mmph hm!

Adult Naruto: he says he doesn't own me.

Me: Mamph mmf maf m meb

Naru: And he doesn't own my friends either.))

**Missions!**

Taka bent over in the small ankle-high stream she stood in and gathered up some pebbles in the sifter she held. Rising back up, she began shaking the smaller rocks through the wire. It was midday, and, since they had been working since ten o'clock, she was not happy. "This is so _boring!_" she cried in irritation.

"Well, if you'd gotten here _on time_, we might be done by now!" lectured Hari from upstream, where he was doing much the same thing the redhead was.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Like five minutes is going to make that much of a difference." She stopped and glanced downstream at a quietly working Katame. "Bah! I don't like these D rank missions any more!"

The green haired genin gawked at her back. "This is our first one! How can you not like them _any more_?"

The question was useless, for she was already out of the water, standing in front of Shino, who stood leaning against a tree on the bank. "Is there anything you can do to get us a better mission, Shino-sensei?"

The bug user stared at her through his shades. After a few seconds, it was obvious that he wouldn't answer and that her straightforward approach had failed. Therefore, it was time for plan B: incessant nagging.

"Oh, come on, Shino-sensei! You've had to do these missions before! Surely, you remember how boring they are! All I'm asking for is a little excitement! I wa-Ak!" She suddenly found herself being dragged by the back of her shirt collar.

"Alright, back to work, you," commanded the boy pulling her.

The Koudoukou glanced over her shoulder, frowning at the Kuwashii behind her. She looked back at the jounin by the trees with a desperate 'how can you resist this' look on her face.

Her sensei stared after her blankly. Finally, he responded, "I will not ask the Hokage for something you will be incapable of accomplishing."

Taka's mouth fell open in shock. Had her sensei really just said that? But teachers were supposed to be supportive and encouraging. Not-well, _brutally honest!_

It was sad that that was true, but at least she accepted it. Didn't mean she had to agree with the fact that they couldn't do a more action-packed mission.

"Come on, Shino-sensei! How 'bout after we train for a week or two? Can we go on a tougher mission then?" she asked as she started to work again, courtesy of Hari forcing her to.

The bug-nin remained silent a moment before answering. "Should you have developed enough by that time, such a mission could be given to us. Until then, the training I shall cause you to endure should retain your attention."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. They hadn't actually trained together yet, having just become a team the day before and received a mission this morning. She hoped it would be interesting. Especially since she was now so intrigued. "Alright, sensei, have it your way." Then, turning to her teammates, "Now let's hurry up and find that ring!"

She went back to work with vigor for the next five minutes. When nothing happened, she gradually slowed to a mindless pace. This was getting incredibly annoying. She needed something to keep her occupied.

The girl glanced upstream at her male ally, hoping to find something of the sort. She couldn't help but take notice of how he had gone back to the farthest location from their sensei and smirked. Perhaps, the Aburame's bugs really did get to the boy. It was a very amusing prospect, especially since she was still incredibly bored.

She sighed. That thought process didn't entertain her long. Reluctantly, she returned to her sifter. A second later, she heard a voice from downstream of her. "Found it"

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Hari glared at his opponent. She stood there in a battle stance, waiting for him to make his move. Absently, he rubbed the forming bruise on his shoulder. That surprised him. Normally, he was hardly even touched during these sparring sessions, unless he fought his sensei that is. Yet this time, his opponent, a teammate no less, had landed a truly solid hit on him.

He couldn't tell if he was getting lazy and rusty or if his teammates were actually getting better. Considering who he was fighting, it was probably the latter; he had found that she tended to learn very quickly.

Either way, he glowered at Katame, who still had her frustratingly emotionless mask on. She didn't even seem to recognize the success she had just had.

Growing irritated, Hari rushed forward, engaging her once more. He swung at her multiple times but couldn't get a good shot in as she remained annoyingly elusive, just like she always did. He growled as he was forced to deflect a punch she had thrown at the exact moment she knew he couldn't dodge it.

Sparring with his genius of a teammate always seemed to piss him off. She had already analyzed his fighting style down to the very last detail, allowing her to anticipate his moves before he even made them.

He both hated and loved that about her. He hated it because it annoyed him to no end that he couldn't hit her. He loved it because it forced him to either be creative with his moves or increase his speed so that he could catch up to her foresight. It was a strange opinion he held of their bouts.

At least he wasn't fighting Shino. Not only would he hold back, which irritated him on its own no matter how necessary it was, but he would _still_ beat him into the ground, thus showing him just how much work he still had to go.

He was brought back to the present when one of Katame's punches clipped him on his bruising shoulder, sending a spasm of pain through him. With renewed fervor, he snagged her wrist and pulled her into a jab to the stomach in an attack that was very unlike his usual flowing style.

She crumpled to the ground, coughing, as he took a few steps back to allow her some space. Before she could even remotely stand up, a voice boomed from behind Hari.

"Enough. Injuring each other further would be pointless."

He turned to see his teacher walking toward them, along with Taka. "Hai, sensei."

"Rest while I train Taka." Hari nodded as Katame stood up behind him. The pair walked to a shaded portion of the training area and sat down. The male laid back as he heard combat begin where the two of them had just been. Unless he fought Taka, he was usually tired by the end of the session. It was no different this time. Sweat covered his body everywhere, including places he didn't really want to touch in public. Vaguely, he wondered whether he was the only one that was exhausted.

Lazily, he rolled onto his side to look at his former opponent. She, too, seemed out of breath, though from the attention she was giving the spar in front of them, it was hard to tell. Her posture was even just as poised as usual. The only thing that gave away her exhaustion was the sweat that covered each inch of her body, making the black gi and fishnet that she wore stick enticingly to her skin. _Very _enticingly. He couldn't help but stare as her chest expanded and contracted in a way that seemed to give him back some of his energy.

He was startled when, a second later, she stood up and jumped away, only to be replaced by a foot a moment afterwards. Sitting back up, he noticed that Taka had appeared where Katame had been seconds before and was rapidly backtracking to keep an advancing Shino from landing a solid blow on her. He sighed. He had almost forgotten how, when his teacher fought, the observers tended to end up having to move. He figured it was something he did to keep them on their toes.

He stood up and started to move sluggishly as he saw Taka being directed toward him by Shino's assault. One thing was for sure: training with his sensei was never boring.

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"Are you sure, Shino-san?" asked the blond woman behind the desk in the office the two sat in. "They just became genin a short while ago."

"I am, Hokage-sama." He was opposite Tsunade with his normal emotionless mask fixed on his face. "They were able to complete my test in less than four hours," he stated factually.

"And the last four teams that tried, failed, even with nine hours to complete it, correct?"

"For various reasons, yes."

"I can understand your confidence in them, but a C rank mission after only a few weeks? That's a bit much."

"Give them an easy one, then," came a casual voice from a dark ceiling corner. The figure dropped down and stepped forward, revealing a man around Shino's age in an orange t-shirt and black pants down to his ankles with short, spiked blond hair and whisker-like scars on his cheeks. "I win this round, Tsunade-oba-chan. That ties this year's score at 67."

The Hokage grumbled, making a motion as if punching her desk without actually hitting it for fear of breaking it…again. She hated losing to him, even at a silly little challenge such as detecting him at rather inopportune moments. "Darn it, Naruto! Can't you see I'm busy?"

The Kyuubi container frowned, his eyes narrowing to horizontal slits. "Yes, and I was making a recommendation."

The older blond blinked at him in minor confusion. "You're not here to demand a mission?"

He crossed his arms with a slight huff. "That doesn't matter. This topic is important enough for me to have my say."

After another odd look, the slug Sannin brought her elbows up onto her desk and intertwined her fingers in a business-like manner. "Alright, brat, tell me why you think they deserve a C rank mission so soon after becoming shinobi."

"Oh, come one, Baa-chan! Surely, you can give a simple C rank. After all, I received an A rank when I was just a genin."

Tsunade's eye twitched. "That was rated a C mission, and I wasn't the one who gave it to you."

Before Naruto could retort, Shino cleared his throat. The pair turned to the previously forgotten bug user. "If you will not take me for my word, I will be leaving." He paused and when he was met by an awkward silence, he stood and started at an easy pace for the exit.

"…Very well." He stopped in his tracks without turning around. "I trust your judgment, Shino-san. If you believe they are ready, I will give them one…an easy one." He glanced over his shoulder to see the Hokage holding out a mission folder for him.

Calmly, he walked back and took it from her hands, skimming it over. As he read, his brows furrowed. "Are you sure this should be a C rated mission?" he asked curiously. He placed his finger on the document he held and quoted, "'Ninja may be encountered.'"

The slug Sannin waved the comment off. "We have received multiple employments from this governor claiming much the same, and there has yet to be a time when our teams have had to engage anyone, much less shinobi." She stared at the Aburame seriously. "If there _happens_ to be trouble, I'm counting on you to bail them out of it."

With a nod, followed by a stiff bow, Shino accepted the mission and walked out.

The remaining two blinked at the now closed door. After a few seconds, the loudmouth fox broke the silence. "I never knew Shino-san could be so…manipulative."

The Godaime let out a sigh. "He has his ways…"

"…"

"…"

"Now, gimme a mission Baa-chan!"

"I knew it!"

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"Seriously, why are you always late?"

"Shut up."

"What could make you late every day?"

"Shut up."

"Should I tape a clock in front of your left eye so you know when you have to join us?"

"Shut up."

Hari's annoyed voice rambled on followed by a droned 'shut up' from Taka after every sentence. It had been almost a month since they became genin, and the group, including Katame and Shino, were approaching the border between the Fire and Water countries, where they were to complete their next mission, a C mission!

The previous few weeks had included daily missions of gardening and the such at an early 10 a.m., followed by training until at least 6, often later. The first couple of days of training had involved sparring and chakra control exercises to allow their sensei to understand how far they had advanced in each category. Needless to say, Hari had been the only one with any real taijutsu expertise, and Katame had easily bested the other two in the control test.

After that session, Shino had given each team member a list of activities they could do to improve their abilities on their own, either in the morning or after they left the team at night. The days of training since they had learned of their acceptance on a C rank mission were spent working on basic teamwork, which the Aburame stressed highly, most likely because of his constant use of it with his little 'allies', every night until one or more of the younger generation was exhausted to the point of collapsing. This, he said, was to be absolutely sure they were ready for such an important mission. He found the strengths of his genin through these training sessions, and he planned to use them to his full advantage during the upcoming mission.

As it was, they were walking through one of the larger border cities. The sun was already halfway below the horizon, so the streets between the stone buildings were nearly empty. Thus, it was easy for the two to argue without being interrupted.

"You would think you would be able to show up five minutes earlier than usual for once in your life."

"Shut up."

"Enough, both of you," commanded Shino in a slightly irritated tone, "We're almost there." The pair immediately became quiet, though they continued to give each other furtive glares.

A short minute later, they stood before a mansion that stood a good two stories over the one and two floor buildings around it.

Taka grimaced. "I hate greedy, rich bastards."

The jounin watched his three students react to the sight, mostly with indifference, before explaining why it was so much larger than its surroundings. "It is a government building. Show them proper respect." The last part had been directed primarily toward the loud mouthed girl.

The redhead craned her neck so that she could see her teacher with a frown on her face. "If I have to…"

Hesitantly, the three genin walked up to the rather large door. A few seconds after three resounding knocks, a balding, gray haired man in a black suit opened the door. "May I help you?" His old face wrinkled and unwrinkled as he spoke.

"We're here for the mission," responded Shino apathetically.

The man's eyes widened in surprise before scanning them disapprovingly. Still looking reproachful, he stepped back at the sight of their hitai-ates and allowed them into a large, square central chamber with numerous connecting rooms. He disappeared into a side room, muttering a short, "Wait here," to the four.

The Koudoukou examined the empty room with distaste. "What a waste of space…" she muttered sullenly. Then, she caught sight of something that interested her…something that wasn't there before…the round object now stationed on the bug user's back. "Shino-sensei…Why are you carrying a gourd?"

He stared at her a moment, slightly surprised she hadn't noticed it until then, before responding statistically. "It holds the surplus of my kikai bugs."

"You mean there's more than just those inside your body?" she asked in a bit of awe, causing a shudder to rack Hari's frame from where he stood beside her.

Again, this surprised the kikaichu (bug host). She had noticed the holes in his body the numerous times he had used them in front of the group but not the gourd. Somehow, she was attentive to such a small thing in such a short time, but oblivious to the larger one that had been there in the four days since they had left Konoha. This confused the jounin. Yet, that wasn't what _really_ stunned him. She, and her fellow kunoichi for that matter, didn't care that he had bugs inside of him. They didn't even seem to care that there was a nest of them right next to them. Only Hari seemed to react to his kikai, and it seemed that that mostly stemmed from a case of entomophobia, or fear of bugs, rather than the disgust with them being inside him. He felt somewhat honored to have such mature- or just ignorant, he couldn't really tell- students.

"Yes," he finally answered.

Before Taka could fulfill her curious side any more, a nearby door opened, and a short young man, who appeared to be in his late teens, entered, followed shortly by the apparent butler from before. The young man's intricate suit and curled blond hair made it obvious he was rich, to say the least. He caught sight of the group, and his features twisted into a frown. "I asked for ninja, not brats with an overly dressed teacher," he said to his butler a little too loudly.

The green haired genin's eye twitched as he resisted the urge to retort angrily. Instead, the redhead responded with a frown on her face in a minimally annoyed tone…minimally for her anyway. "We're here from Konohagakure to guard the political scroll you hired us to."

The blond teen stared at her with discontent. "But I hired _ninja_!"

She glared back at him before pointing at the hitai-ate wrapped around her shoulder. "What do you think we _are_?!"

Shino quickly laid his hand on her head. "Enough." With a grumble, she relented. The jounin turned to their employer. "Take us to it so we can begin the mission." It was more of a demand than a request.

The man snarled irritably. "Fine, but I expect nothing less than perfection."

"Of course."

He led them through a long corridor and into another relatively large room. It was also nearly empty with only a lone stand in the center holding a scroll. The single small window stood high, well out of reach of any normal human. The blond walked over and placed his hand on the document. "No one is to touch this. At all. Including you four. For the next three days." He emphasized each point with dreadful slowness.

The team bowed, two respectfully, two mockingly, as he left the room. As soon as he was out of the room, Taka growled. "Arrogant teme."

"Isn't he a bit young to be a governor?" hissed Hari fervently.

"His parents died in office," stated Katame, surprising everyone, "and this part of the Fire Country doesn't have a vice governor, so their council of elders decided to give him the position temporarily."

The two younger members stared at her before the spiky, green haired genin sighed. "Again with the reading…" She nodded an affirmative.

The redhead put her palm on her forehead and shook her head disbelievingly. Then, erasing all other emotions, she slapped her hands together and rubbed them enthusiastically. "Anyway, let's get to setting up." A maniacal grin spread across her face. "I think I'm going to enjoy this."

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A young boy with soft blue hair, flowing down to his shoulders sat on the roof of a small house neighboring the government mansion, spinning a shuriken on one finger. It was night now, making it even harder to see him in his completely black, wool clothes, covering all his body except his face and hair, at the base of which was his mist hitai-ate, which both contrasted greatly with his shadowed appearance.

He sighed, obviously bored. Finally, a female voice fluttered into his ear. "Fox, you ready?"

Fox rolled his eyes, lifting his earpiece so the mike lay near his chin. "Nah, I've been sitting here doing nothing for fifteen minutes, and I'm still not ready." Sarcasm dripped on his annoyed words.

The voice returned, ignoring his spite. "Good. We're starting in 20 seconds. Rain out."

"'Bout time." He pushed himself up and walked to the edge of the platform, placing a foot halfway off the ledge and waited. Not ten seconds later, an explosion blasted from the ground floor in the government building. Noticing his cue, he leapt down in a flash, already running at the opening the small bomb had created as he hit the street.

In an instant, he was through the dust cloud and in a nearly empty room, rushing at the lone standing object. He quickly jumped up to dodge a set of shuriken thrown by a trap. He whipped out a kunai and deflected another few of the spinning blades before being caught off guard by a net from his side. Before he even hit the stone floor, a black blur snatched him from midair and retreated back out the gouge in the wall with a trail of weapons from traps marking its path.

A green haired boy stepped up as the two disappeared with an annoyed look on his face. "Darn it…now I have to set all that up again," he grumbled. Then, a kunai flew in from outside, causing him to tense in preparation to dodge. But, the weapon landed and stuck point first between two of the stones that made up the floor at his feet.

It took a minute for his nervousness to cease, and even then, he was hesitant to touch the knife in front of him. As he picked it up, he noticed a short, roughly drawn note on its handle. His eyes narrowed as he read the few short words written there.

_Meet 1 mile outside gate: 1 p.m._

This mission just kept getting more and more interesting.

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Fox growled as he was placed on the ground a good mile from city limits. "Damn it," he cursed mildly, struggling with the net that was still around him.

"Calm down. We've still got two more days to accomplish this." The voice came from the old man that stood next to him.

Fox glared at his nearly bald and completely wrinkled face, stopping his attempts to throw off his captor web. "Oh yeah. I _really_ wanted to fail this time _just_ so I would have another chance to try." Once more, sarcasm dripped from his words, this time accompanied by stinging venom.

The old goat sighed impatiently. "Just like your father…" He walked over and put a hand on a nearby tree in an effort to calm his growing irritation, his black cloak swirling invisibly in the night, only continuing to cover his other clothes because of the mist hitai-ate that was wrapped around his waist.

A moment later, Fox tossed aside the net and started to stand, only to be tackled back to earth. He closed his eyes and grunted as he hit solid soil and followed up with a pained groan. His aqua eyes lifted open to see a pair of purple ones connected to a worried, pale face staring back at him. "Are you alright?" it asked in an obviously feminine tone.

His eye twitched noticeably. "Yeah, let's just tackle the possibly already injured guy and see if we can do some _more_ damage to him." The sarcasm seemed to have taken permanent residence in his voice.

The face smiled at him. "Oh, good. You're fine then." She pushed herself back up with relatively little effort.

He grimaced at his friend's ability to read him so well. He watched with narrowed eyes as she pulled up her small blue tank top that barely reached her short matching pants, near her chest before rolling his eyes and looking away. Her headband sat loosely around her neck, temptingly reflecting the skin above her shirt. Stupid scanty clothes. Even her smooth, blond, shoulder length hair made her look like a junior seductress. What had he done to get stuck on a team with her?...

He jumped up to his feet and was almost startled as a serious voice came from behind him. "Sokudo-kun."

He spun on his heels to see the smooth skin of his other teammate. The vaguely loose white t-shirt and soft blue pants seemed unnaturally bright in the lunar light, along with the hitai-ate with a white clothe wrapping on the forehead, only farther emphasized by the exceedingly long, flowing, black hair framing its backside. The pale skin made the person look entirely feminine.

But Sokudo knew better. "Toukan-kun," he responded with a brief nod.

"Now, what do we do, Subaya-sensei?" asked the only _true_ girl of the group.

The black cloak swirled again as the old geezer spun to face his students. All eyes were on him as he began. "Well, Magusa-chan-"

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"Come on, Shino-sensei! We should go meet them!" Taka pleaded with her hands clasped in front of her chest, on the edge of going into full begging mode.

"I agree, sensei," noted Hari from where he stood with his arms crossed against the wall, "From what I saw last night, they lack strategy, which we have the master of right here." He motioned towards Katame, who stood next to him with her hands in her pockets. She made no recognizably reaction to the comment, though it seemed like her cheeks took on a light pink hue. "They avoided the window, so obviously they don't lack common sense, but still…"

The bug user frowned behind his high collar jacket. "Jounin sensei should not put their students in danger if they can do otherwise," he stated conclusively-

-but apparently not conclusively enough. "On the contrary, Aburame-sensei," began the normally quiet genjutsu user, "they only told us to meet them on the note." She pointed to the written kunai in Shino's hand. "This may mean they only want to negotiate for the scroll, and by ignoring such a chance, we may be provoking them into more dangerous attempts to steal it. And under the circumstances, we can only have one person guarding the scroll at a time if we are to cover all possible entrances with traps or risk activating those traps ourselves. Thus, if they found a way around or through our snares, which, given they have two days to formulate an attempt before the scroll is moved, is quite likely, it would make it easy for them to overpower that one person and achieve their objective. If you reach the same conclusion as me, it means that meeting them is the far less risky choice."

Shino paused, following her logic. Even with those possibilities for the other option, meeting them had its own set of risks. The enemy could wait until they left for the rendezvous point before trying another thievery, but that didn't make sense because they had asked to meet in the middle of the day, which would make an escape nigh impossible. Their adversary could ambush them; though, with the straightforward approach they had taken so far, that seemed less than likely. That same straightforward approach also lessened the chance they would want to do something as roundabout as negotiation. That left one probably course of action: a flat out battle.

_That _was why Shino was hesitant to go meet them. His team would no doubt be at a disadvantage in such an encounter, especially since the opponents seemed to have the gall to challenge them despite ignorance of their strength. In addition, he knew through the previous weeks that neither of the girls had truly adequate taijutsu abilities, which would be necessary in such a fight. Katame could take advantage of openings but…This made choosing quite the dilemma…

However, when put the way Katame had said it, it seemed like that big risk was a lot better than the huge risk of not seeing their foes at all. "Very well," allowed the Aburame in a monotone, "but stay close to me."

Silently vowing to get Hari back for not mentioning her Nezumi no Jutsu when he spoke of strategy, Taka threw her fists in the air with an excited, "Hai!" The other two nodded agreeance with the decision.

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Taka grumbled to herself as the group left the city. "I can't believe that idiot of a governor put a time limit on what might be a diplomatic meeting."

Apparently, Hari heard her mumblings from where he stood beside her. "At least we were able to convince him that this was the right course of action."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but with all the restrictions he put on us, we won't be able to get anything useful done."

The green haired male just shrugged in response. Then, Shino stepped between the two, looking stoic as ever. "We only have an hour," he pointed out as if they didn't already know, "Let's get going."

He leapt into the nearby trees, keeping his pace slow enough for his students to follow without a whole lot of difficulty. A minute later, they landed in the clearing they were to meet in one at a time. Their adversaries were already waiting. Silence reigned as both teams scrutinized each other under the afternoon sun.

Their jounin sensei, as Taka assumed they were still genin, looked old, as in near antique old, which she doubted was usual for a genin team to have. His black cloak, concealing all other clothing, also seemed eccentric, though who was she to talk? Her sensei wore a trench coat after all.

The boy next to him seemed just as wakked in his outfit of complete black. His soft blue hair and pale skin emphasized the dark clothes dramatically.

The girl behind him was no better than the previous two. Her blue shirt and pants showed _way_ too much skin, especially for someone that looked to be just thirteen years old. It was disgusting. Taka made a point to look away from her as quickly as possible.

The remaining girl had what Taka considered the best fashion sense of the four. The plain white t-shirt and blue pants blended with her pale skin and brought out a shine in her long, black hair that made her look surprisingly gorgeous. Taka had to force herself to look away before she became entranced.

The redhead watched cautiously as the sensei turned around and spoke briefly to his students, pointing at the black clad boy and then at her. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. It appeared that he was to target her. She didn't like that idea one bit. She would just have to make a point by striking him first. She ignored the rest of what the old man did in favor of glaring at her supposed opponent. He met her eyes only briefly before turning away.

She was brought back to reality by the old man's deep voice pervading the clearing. "I assume we can't negotiate for the scroll." He frowned as Shino shook his head. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Then, how about a friendly little wager, so that we can avoid any threat to life? If you win, we'll leave peacefully. If we win, you give us the scroll without argument."

The bug user eyes him warily in the following pause. He didn't like where this was headed. "…Go on…"

The balding sensei grinned as he responded. "Just a short three battle skirmish; you vs. me, one of the kids vs. Sokudo-kun here, and the remaining two vs. my last two. With a few obvious rules applied, of course. Whoever wins two of the three fights claims victory."

The jounin's wary eyeing continued. "And what are these obvious rules?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh, no killing, of course. We want to avoid permanent damage if possible." He sent a warning glance to the boy in the white t-shirt, who gave him a resentful, relenting look. "And just the basic no interference."

Taka sent a sharp glance at her sensei, unsure if he would be willing to accept, before speaking herself. "Give us a minute to discuss!" She pulled her team into a makeshift huddle and didn't even bother waiting for someone else to speak. "We should do it, with me in the one on one."

The two males frowned, but Katame beat them to the punch. "Logically, that would give us the best chance of success. You could take their jounin, Aburame-sensei, and I could support Hari with my genjutsu while he uses his taijutsu. That would give us the two out of three necessary victories. Then, it won't matter how well Taka does."

Despite the lack of confidence in her, the brown eyed kunoichi eagerly agreed. She wanted to know why that shinobi had been designated to her, and for some reason, she didn't care what happened to her in the process.

Shino's thoughts had taken a similar path to those of his purple eyed, female miniature. He also knew they couldn't go back to the traps because their opponents knew what to expect while they were left in the dark as their opponents' abilities were concerned. He didn't like putting his student in such danger, considering she had no decent fighting ability to speak of, but he had little choice. Plus, he had already been guaranteed she wouldn't die. If she did, someone would have hell to pay. "That seems our best option."

Hari grunted. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I agree with it."

The redhead stuck her tongue out at him as they broke apart.

The Aburame nodded as he stepped forward. "You have a deal."


	5. Team Shino vs Team Subaya

((Finally, some action

((Finally, some action. It took me long enough to get here...Anyway, I enjoyed writing this part, so you better enjoy reading it! I kid, I kid. But I really would appreciate a review.

Disclaimer: Taka: Why do I have to do it?

SSF: Because I say so.

Taka: Fine…He doesn't own Naruto.

SSF: Go on.

Taka: And he doesn't own any of the new characters. Those belong to whoever reviewed with them…But he does own me!

SSF: Good girl. Tosses cookie))

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**Team Shino vs. Team Subaya**

_The Aburame nodded as he stepped forward. "You have a deal."_

The old man smirked triumphantly. "Excellent." He gave an amused glance at Taka before continuing. "Now, if you and the one facing Sokudo-kun would follow me…"

The bug user stared at him, unmoving. His eyes narrowed behind his shades. "We're not watching each other's fights then…" he stated, having taken the cues from the other man's actions.

Baldy's, as Taka had now dubbed him, eyebrows rose in surprise, the smirk still plastered to his face. "Very perceptive," he responded with a hint of sarcasm, "No, we won't stay. We're going to different clearings so that we can fight at the same time, helping to destroy any temptation to interfere."

Shino's brows slanted visibly above his sunglasses. Why do things always have to go wrong? This had to be the worst contingency possible for these conditions. His students' lives were going to be in danger, and there was little he could do about it. "…What guarantee do I have that your students will follow the rules?"

Baldy sent a warning glare toward all three of his students before returning his gaze to the other jounin. "I suppose you don't really have one. But, on my honor, I give you my word they _will_-" He gave another warning glare, this time at both the blue haired and the black haired shinobi. "-follow the rules."

The kikai host frowned behind his high collar. He didn't like how this was turning out. Yet, the previous thoughts still applied. They couldn't go back without giving the enemy a high chance of success since they already knew how they used their traps. Then, whoever was left guarding the scroll would be dead in a heartbeat. It seemed this was still the best course of action.

He would just have to finish his fight quickly so he could be _sure_ the opponents were obeying. Silently, he held out his arm in a motion that told the geezer to go first.

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Hari watched irritably as Taka and Shino followed the opposing pair out of the clearing. _He_ should be the one fighting one on one. Had his sensei no confidence in his abilities alone? He won any spar they had among team members fairly easily. He had no doubt that he could win, had he been chosen, which would have given them the victorious two. But, _no_, he had to put him on a team, working with another. The fact that he had confidence in the two of them together was little consolation to him.

Needless to say, he was _pissed_.

Luckily, he knew just the people to take it out on.

He turned back to the pair opposite him and Katame with fire in his eyes.

The enemy blond then decided to break the silence. "Before we begin, we should probably know the names of our opponents. Ya know? Just in case."

A small grin tugged at the edge of his lips. He was beginning to like this girl-especially her revealing clothes, but that was a different matter. "Alright, you first," he said firmly.

She frowned but started anyway. "I am Sakana Magusa." She smirked menacingly. "Also called Rain for reasons you'll soon see."

She looked to her partner, who stood beside her with her eyes closed. The blond took a step closer and nudged her lightly with her elbow. Her visual orbs popped open with a cold, brown gaze.

"I am Manriki Toukan, AKA Blizzard," she stated darkly, in a voice that made it impossible to tell gender.

Hari allowed himself a smirk. How stupid can you be to give hints of your abilities before the fight? Water and ice…That could get annoying, especially if they worked together…

He gave Katame a quick glance, waving his arm in front of him as if displaying an item. "After you, milady."

She didn't even bother looking at him as she stepped passed him. She gave a brief bow before speaking. "I am Rokotsu Katame, sometimes called One Eye Open."

Hari was by her side in a matter of moments. "What are you doing?" he hissed vehemently, "Don't give them clues to your abilities!"

She glared at him out of the corner of her eyes. "It is merely the meaning of my name in a language used by a far away nation. I doubt they can use it to determine my strengths."

He snarled furiously. Now what was he supposed to do? He was obligated to give some sort of nickname, and he had no translation that he knew of. He decided to go with the first option that ran through his head that wasn't related to his ninja abilities.

"I am Kuwashii Hari, but you can call me Spike."

Awkward silence…

The blonde brought her hand up in front of her mouth, slightly shaking from silent laughter. A vein appeared on Spike's forehead. "What's so funny?"

She clamped her mouth shut, though her eyes continued laughing. "Your nickname is the same as my dog's." She giggled as he fell on his back anime style.

"So I'm a dog now?" he inquired sarcastically, standing back up.

She smirked. "I don't know. Will you come if I call you?"

Hari sighed. _"Such an antagonistic kunoichi,"_ he thought with a hint of affection, _"Makes things easier for me…"_

He returned the smirk. "Why don't you try it and find out?"

A mildly surprised expression appeared on her face. "Oh?" She bent over with her hands on her knees, purposefully showing more cleavage. "Come here, Spike. Come here, boy." Her tone had become increasingly appealing.

He blushed as he forced back the images his brain was showing him. Now wasn't the time!

Spike rushed forward, hands making signs under his upper body as he approached. Magusa had taken a defensive stance, obviously having known what was coming. However, he was already working his way around it. He finished the seals near his chest and Shinshined past her guard to within an inch of her face. He smirked at the shocked look she gave him before pulling back for a right-handed hook.

The blonde recovered just in time to briefly sidestep into a back handspring, barely being grazed on the cheek by the attack. She skidded to a stop some five feet away and tenderly reached up to touch the scrape. Finding that it would bring no more that a small bruise, she dropped her hands to her side and stood up straight, gazing appraisingly at him. "Not bad…I think we'll have fun playing with you."

Hari growled angrily. "It'll take more than just playing to defeat us." He wasn't about to let _anyone_ underestimate him…Not like they used to…

Magusa raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, you're making such an amateur mistake that I couldn't help but assume." He gave her a questioning look, so she explained, "You forgot about my partner."

His eyes widened in realization. _"Oh shit!"_

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Sokudo stared at the back of his sensei, deep in thought, as they walked to the location. He and the girl next to him, who kept sending him suspicious glances, would do battle when they reached it. He would never understand how, but Subaya had known he would fight this girl, even though they had left the choice to her team. And this wasn't the first time he had done something like that. He always said it was his 'natural intuition,' but Sokudo didn't buy that.

However, that was only an irritation, not what was most important at that moment. He glanced at the redhead, and they momentarily made eye contact. Her brown eyes dug into his own with a curiosity and suspicion that would not be quenched. He quickly broke away, not wanting to be read like an open book. The old man had been right. He wouldn't gain anything by watching her like he could most genin. Every hint she gave as to her abilities would be contradicted by the next as if she had potential in all three types of jutsu and would use whichever one presented itself as most useful at any given time.

Indeed, he would have to keep on his toes around this one. He hadn't a clue what to expect.

"We're here," announced Subaya, stopping in his tracks, with everyone else mimicking his movements. They stood in a small patch of light that filtered through the canopy. It wasn't much of a clearing. "The younger two will fight here," continued the geezer, ignoring the aggravated glare he received from the girl. The blue haired boy grinned. It was his perfect setting. "We will be fighting a quarter mile north of here. You may come watch us when you finish, but do _not_ interfere."

After getting two nods, the cloaked teacher leapt into the trees, followed shortly by the other jounin.

Sokudo watched calmly after them, slowly rotating to face his opponent, who he found, had already taken up a battle stance. He frowned in mock sadness. "No introductions?" he asked sarcastically. He was answered by a punch being thrown to his face, which he ducked under.

A quick flurry of random, unconnected blows followed, all of which were easily dodged by the male shinobi. As his adversary backed out of reach, chest beginning to heave, he spoke excitedly, the anticipation of battle running through his veins. "My name is Kihou Sokudo, more commonly known as Fox. Be careful. I'm dangerous." He ended in a teasing tone, though there was a hint of seriousness in his voice.

The redhead stood up straight, assuming he wouldn't attack until she told him her name. She smirked when her assumption was proven correct. "My name is Koudoukou Taka, but don't bother learning it. You'll be calling me Master soon enough." Fox smiled to himself. Sarcasm for sarcasm. He liked this girl already. It was going to be a shame to cut her down to size.

Then, she made a hand sign, causing him to tense in preparation. "Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu)

…And nothing happened. Or at least nothing _seemed_ to happen. But Sokudo knew better. He gave her a quizzical look, but she refused to explain. Instead, she dropped into a defensive stance. "Now, come one, Foxie. Make your move."

He gave her one last glance over before bowing as if he were a servant. "As you wish, Master." Sarcasm truly was his constant companion.

He drew a kunai and darted forward, aiming just left of his target. As he passed her, he gave a wide swing, causing her to duck down, losing sight of him momentarily. She spun around, lifting herself into a guarded stance, only to find him gone, hiding amongst the trees. She briefly scanned the surroundings.

"…Well, crap…"

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Shino landed next to the balding old man in a wide, grassy clearing. He watched calmly as his foe walked to the opposite line of trees before whirling to face him. "I am Jinsoku Subaya of Kirigakure," he said formally, "Prepare yourself, ninja of Konohagakure."

"Jinsoku Subaya, Black Blade of the Mist village," expanded Shino logically, "Former member of the Seven Swordsmen. Known to have failed only one mission during his time as a shinobi. Capable of defeating any opposing ninja in a solo fight.-"

"-Until I retired," interrupted Subaya, "You know me well, young man. I fear I may not live up to your expectations…Tell me, what is your name?"

The bug user stared at him for a moment before answering. "Aburame Shino."

"Hm." Subaya undid the hitai-ate around his waist and unbuttoned the collar of his cloak. "It will be an honor to face you in combat, Aburame." He pulled the cloak off to reveal full black ninja garb with an additional belt, holding a sword sheath. He unsheathed the steel blade with intentional slowness. It was fairly short, made of steel, and thick enough to be sturdy but not overly heavy.

He pointed the sword at his opponent. "Shall we begin then?" he asked casually. The other jounin merely nodded, still standing as he had been with his hands in his pockets. The swordsman quirked an eyebrow. It was rare to find someone without some sort of battle stance. Unless, of course, this _was_ his battle stance. He mentally shrugged and rushed forward, holding his weapon horizontally in front of him.

Shino didn't move an inch as the attack approached. This vaguely confused the old man, but he decided to continue with the attack anyway. He would deal with the consequences later. He swung horizontally, cutting through the kikai host's arm and the majority of his chest.

Subaya's eyes narrowed. _"That was too easy."_ He thought. Then, the shinobi in front of him began to crumple, showing the mass of bugs it was made of. _"Too easy, indeed."_ He hastily leapt away from the developing swarm.

He landed lightly and lifted his sword in front of him defensively. It was then that he noticed the bugs crawling up the blade, toward his skin. Cursing under his breath, the swordsman pumped a small burst of chakra through the steel. His eyes widened exponentially as, instead of being blasted off like he expected, they picked up speed. _"They eat chakra!"_

Frantically, he plunged the weapon into the dirt and withdrew it, effectively clearing off the critters. He examined the blade to be sure they were all gone before briefly scanning his surroundings. His adversary was nowhere to be found. _"Definitely too easy. He must've made the clone after we left the kids, or Sokudo would've noticed from his spot behind him."_

He whirled around one last time, announcing to the clearing, "It's nice to see you're not so easily taken down. That allows me to take it up a notch." He ran through a short set of hand signs.

"Ninpou: Ittoukage no Jutsu!" (Secret Art: Shadow Sword Jutsu)

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"_Oh shit!"_ Hari thought as he spun to face his raven haired foe. He was immediately met by a fist to the nose. A low grunt escaped him as he was thrown backwards, skidding to a stop next to Katame.

"You would do well to stay attentive to all of your surroundings," stated an emotionless voice, which could only belong to Blizzard, from where he had stood moments ago.

He groaned, slowly pushing himself up. Blood dripped from both nostrils as he glowered at her.

"Honestly, Spike, you should know better," bubbled Rain, in a voice that was much too happy for someone in a fight, as she went back to stand next to her companion. "Such foolish mistakes will get you killed."

He gave a silent snarl. He had been mad before, but now he was absolutely _furious_. Yet, his mind retained its ability to think, though far from clearly, and it knew he couldn't take both of them at once and that Katame had relatively little chance in a one on one. He gave a snort of anger. He hated this. He hated waiting for someone else to make a move, but there was nothing he could do.

"So, since they showed us one of their basic jutsu," began the blonde to her compatriot, interrupting his train of thought, "shall we graciously return the favor? Perhaps with the ice darts?"

Toukan smiled, the menacing smile of someone who was about to inflict pain on another, in her first show of emotion. "Sounds fun."

Magusa gave her a cautious glance. "Please, the non-lethal kind." Her fellow kunoichi lost her smile. "We don't want to risk the mission."

The emotionless mask was plastered back on Blizzard's face almost instantly, though her voice held a hint of irritation. "Do it, then."

Magusa didn't hesitate in starting a set of hand signs. Hari tensed, ready to dodge or block, whichever was necessary. He subconsciously stepped in front of his partner.

"Suiton: Mizutama no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)

The scantily clad kunoichi reared back before forcing her head forward with her mouth open. A small glob of water erupted from her at high speed toward the opposing pair. The male immediately pulled out a kunai and slashed the projectile in half before it could hit him.

The water splashed on him harmlessly. He smirked at the two girls. "Is that all you got?" He realized his mistake as Blizzard finished his own set of hand signs with a grin on his face.

"Suiton: Etigyou no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Liquid Freeze Jutsu)

The water froze into a pair of long lines, one across his face and one across his chest and shoulder. He grimaced as the ice pulled off a piece of his skin when he moved his visage. The attack was far from pernicious, but it was certainly painful. He lifted his finger and ran it over the pieces of ice still stuck on his cheek. It could also be used as a disabling technique if used correctly he realized.

He was interrupted from his musings by another call.

"Suiton: Mizutama no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)

He leapt out of the way, into a nearby tree, hoping Katame had done the same. To his horror, when he looked back, she hadn't moved.

"Suiton: Etigyou no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Liquid Freeze Jutsu)

His mouth dropped open as he glanced at the source of the cry to find an equally stunned Magusa staring at a maniacally grinning Toukan. Eyes wide, he returned his attention to Katame just in time to see her get impaled through the chest by the small ice dagger. One thing burst from his mind at that moment: pure terror.

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It was plainly obvious that Manriki Toukan enjoyed inflicting pain. In fact, he loved it so much that the term "sadist" barely covered half of what he liked to do. This was true so much so that the world was lucky he had no parents, or he would have been much farther along in his torture experiments. It was also lucky that his sensei had threatened him with death if he ever tried to harm his teammates. As a result, he was at a constant lack for test subjects.

Then again, who said he couldn't cause emotional pain? This exact conclusion led him to take the chance of killing the girl opposite him, no matter how small that chance was. He had found that death of a close friend _always_ caused people pain. This he knew from personal experience.

He watched in utter satisfaction as the ice plunged into the kunoichi's heart. However, the sickening squish that should have accompanied it never occurred. This brought a frown to his face. So much for that idea. He watched in mute annoyance as the clone burst into a flurry of sakura petals, slowly fluttering to the ground.

He heard a sigh of relief from the nearby woods, but he didn't care. He wasn't after Magusa's new pet. He wanted the genjutsu user. He scanned the area with a scowl on his face as his ally berated him.

"What the hell was that, you idiot!? You could have killed her! How could you risk the mission like that!? What would Subaya-sensei say!? I ought to skin you alive for that stunt!-"

Blizzard gave her a harsh glare that immediately shut her up. "They aren't stupid," he stated, emphasizing every word, "They won't get hit by such a simple jutsu…Though there's always a chance," he added under his breath. This earned him a hit on the head. He returned to his scan, grumbling under his breath about his sensei's rules.

After completing his glimpse of his surroundings without any success, he looked at Rain in a way that made it obvious he had an idea. "Shall we take it up a notch?"

His companion's eyes grew wide. "We can't do that! It's a danger to both us and them!"

He glowered at her. "Not that one. The other one."

She blinked at him. "Oh…" she said still confused before realization dawned on her. "Oh! That one! Good idea!" She turned toward a random area of the forest. "If you won't come out, we'll flush you out!"

No response.

"…Okay. You asked for it." Both of them began a set of hand signs simultaneously.

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Taka watched her surroundings warily. She hated losing sight of her adversary, especially since she doubted she could move fast enough to hide herself. She knew she wasn't in a good situation.

It didn't surprise her when he took the opportunity to attack. Preceded only by a brief sound of swishing air, a burning pain erupted in her calf. She screamed in pain, dropping to her knees. The pain immediately subsided to a dull ache.

She twisted where she was to view the damage to her leg. She grimaced as she saw a horizontal gash that went through part of her muscle. It was obvious then just how far his speed outclassed her own.

Nonetheless, she pushed herself back to her feet. She gasped as the searing pain returned when she put weight on her crippled calf muscle. She raised her hands into the best guard she could manage in her current condition.

It proved a pointless cause as the burning was copied on the other leg. She fell back to her knees with a short cry. She didn't have to look to know that it was unlikely that she would stand any time soon. She growled angrily.

"Damn it…"

"I'm sorry, Master. Does that hurt?" She looked up to see a smirking Sokudo standing just out of reach. The redhead glared at him furiously. He approached her casually with a mocking flare in his eyes. She tried to stand uselessly, wanting to fend him off.

He came within six inches of her and knelt down so that they were face to face. He laid his hand lightly on her cheek as he spoke. "Don't worry. I didn't hamstring you. I wouldn't do that to someone as cute as you." His tone was somewhere between sarcastic, mocking, and serious.

Taka snarled, taking a wild swing at his cranium. He leapt back, laughing softly. "Aw, come on, hon. You don't wanna give up yet?"

Her furry boiled over. "You can burn in Hell, teme!" Her rat jutsu kicked into overdrive as she worked on a way to turn the tables while moving as little as possible. Only one option came to mind, what Shino called her 'trump card.' "And I'll be the one to send you there!" Still kneeling, she brought her hands into a sign in front of her face.

"Yamazaru Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Monkey of the Zodiac Jutsu)

Fox watched in mild bemusement as smoke burst from the redhead's location. He knew he had nothing to fear. After all, she could barely move. He stared on confidently as the dust cleared.

Once the sky was open once more, he blinked blankly. He rubbed his eyes briefly. Sure enough, when he opened them again, she was still gone. He cursed himself quietly for letting her get away before taking a deep calming breath. His visuals were cut off as he focused all his energy on his hearing.

He listened intently to his surroundings.

He felt the firm ground beneath his feet.

He felt the wind blow through his hair.

And he heard nothing.

No ragged breathing. No scurrying creatures. No breeze.

Everything was silent.

There was _definitely_ something wrong here.

Suddenly a sharp pain seared through his calf muscle. He gasped as he fell forward, reopening his eyes. They widened substantially when he glanced over his shoulder to find a wound mirroring the ones he had given Taka.

"_How can she have mimicked my techniques when she didn't even see it!?"_ he thought desperately.

"So, how do you like a taste of your own medicine?" The voice brought his mind to the fore. He lifted his head to see Taka standing inches from him as if she had never been touched. His utter shock was displayed plainly on his face. She bent down so their eyes were level. "What? You didn't really expect me to be that easy, did you?"

He just stared at her like she was crazy-or he was crazy; he couldn't tell which. Just one word escaped his lips. "…How?"

She smiled innocently as stood up, walking away, completely ignoring his question. He watched her in a daze.

"_How can she copy me so easily? How can she know how deep to cut without causing a permanent hamstring? For that matter, how can she even _move_? I nearly hamstrung her! She shouldn't be able to walk, much less have this much strength! Not even a healing jutsu could do that!"_ That was when it hit him. _"…Unless…"_

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Subaya stood, briefly thinking of his students, in the middle of the clearing. He knew he could count on Mugusa to keep Toukan from doing anything reckless. After all, he still required her water jutsu to do his own jutsu; he hadn't learned to summon ice on its own yet.

Sokudo, however, he was worried about. He tended to get reckless. _Very_ reckless. Especially if he got mad. He could easily ruin this for all of them.

Nonetheless, this wasn't the time to be worrying. He had his own opponent to fight. He waved his sword through the air, watching what seemed like an after-image behind it, and grinned. Now, he just had to wait for the Aburame to set into motion the trap he was no doubt setting as the swordsman stood in the clearing.

He didn't have to wait long as he heard a buzzing from behind him. He rotated to see a swarm of beetle-like bugs approaching him, both through the air and on the ground.

"You have two choices," came Shino's voice from the other side of the clearing, "Face me, or face my bugs."

The Black Blade frowned. "That's an easy choice…I expected more Aburame." He didn't wait for a reply as he rushed at him with his weapon held horizontally in front of him.

The bug user ducked as the blade whizzed by his hair. Then, he took a step forward, inside the arc of the blade and came up for a punch to the chin. Subaya rolled into a back flip, evading the blow, before sprinting forward with another attack.

This one Shino didn't bother dodging.

"Mushi Kame no Jutsu!" (Bug Jar Jutsu)

A mass of kikai bugs jumped from his skin and surrounded him in a virtual bottle of moving creatures. The blade connected with the wall with little effect. Then, the after-image struck, and the whole of the jar, bugs and user included, was sent flying into a tree at the edge of the woods.

The swordsman would've stayed to gloat, but he heard the original swarm hot on his heels. He leapt into the tree, at the base of which was the Aburame, who was getting back to his feet as his little allies scurried back inside him. The Black Blade stopped where he was and looked down at the younger jounin.

"You cannot defeat me. As you have said, my abilities make sure I can defeat anyone in a solo battle."

Shino cocked his head upward. "We shall see."

Subaya smirked. Both confidence and caution. Together, they were excellent qualities for a leader. This bug user showed promise, especially since he was a jounin instructor. But promise of a great team tomorrow meant little for today.

He knew how to get around his defenses, and soon, he would have a way to distract the bugs. He hoped his foe wouldn't hold anything back after this because he sure wouldn't. He ran through a set of a dozen or so hand signs.

"Ninpou: Kuroken no Jutsu!" (Secret Art: Dark Blade Jutsu)

Immediately, his weapon went pitch black. Then, it began to expand greatly. It grew until it was at least as long as he was tall and a good foot from edge to edge.

This was the perfect technique against an Aburame. It would cut through any of his bug walls and give those same bugs some chakra to feed on instead of his own. He only hoped Shino would still put up a decent fight.

He held the giant sword in front of him effortlessly. He was about to find out.

0o0o0o0o0oCliffhanger no Jutsu!0o0o0o0o0o0o

((Yes, I know I'm evil. Sorry! I just thought that this chapter was getting too long so I decided to go ahead and post what I've already written. If you want to complain, you may do so in a review.))


	6. Divide and Conquer

((First of all, I apologize for the week delay in updates, but I had AP (that's college level FYI) testing for the two weeks I would've been writing, so it was hard to keep up the pace

((First of all, I apologize for the 2 week delay in updates, but I had AP (that's college level FYI) testing for the two weeks I would've been writing, so it was hard to keep up the pace. Then, I had a week of freedom before finals began. It's been one helluva month. I hope you can accept my measly excuses.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Naruto. End. Of. Story.))

**Divide and Conquer**

Hari watched his two opponents begin their jutsu from his spot, hidden among the trees. _"Crap, I can't let them get that off!"_ he thought, leaping out. He charged at them, drawing a kunai from the pouch at his waist, but he was too late.

"Suiton: Kousen no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Underground Spring Jutsu) yelled Magusa, completing her seals.

Yet, Spike kept running at them, ready to take the full force of any of the water attacks she could throw at him.

…And no attack came. Instead, he found himself slowing down due to an inch of water around his feet. Actually, an inch of water covering the whole clearing!

He forced his heavy feet onward as he heard another call.

"Suiton: Hisankakusui no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Ice Pyramid Jutsu) This, of course, came from Toukan.

Hari leapt up, expecting an ice spike or something similar to erupt from the liquid beneath him. He had no intention of dieing after all. However, the water began to rush toward his adversaries, climbing into a three inch barrier around them. He growled, helpless as he was in the air.

He landed with a light splash, already pushing forward once more. The shield was just forming over their heads, about to cut off any chance he had at an attack.

He jumped forward, kunai pulled back, ready to strike. With a battle cry, he thrust it through the top of the pyramid just as it solidified around it. He grunted as his shoulder was jerked to a stand still, and his body slammed into the ice wall. The ice had caught him where he was! He glanced up to see a wide smirk of Blizzard's face as he began a second set of hand signs along with her partner.

The green haired shinobi grimaced. _"Not good."_ He yanked his forearm free, but it got stuck again where his hand was balled up in a vice grip on his kunai. He pulled out a second kunai and went to stab the shield in an effort to get free. Unfortunately, it deflected downward, barely scratching the ice. He grimaced. He had to get free and fast or he was doomed!

He dropped both his weapons and braced his knees and remaining hand against the barrier.

"Suiton: Gyoushuku no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Condensation Jutsu) shouted Rain as she finished her technique.

Hari let out a war cry as he jerked his hand painfully through the small gap in the shield. Above him, he saw, a small but thick black cloud was developing in the sky. It couldn't be anything good. He began a short set of hand signs as true rain began to fall.

"_Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!"_

"Suiton: Reika no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Subzero Jutsu)

"_Shit!"_

He felt the temperature around him drop dramatically from Blizzard's jutsu. The rain froze spontaneously into tiny sharp daggers. He gritted his teeth as they dug into flesh. He finished his jutsu and disappeared, replaced by a log.

He grimaced where he was at the base of a large tree. He worked the needles out of his shoulder and head. _"Thank Kami that those were light or I'd be dead man."_ He winced as he withdrew a particularly deep one in his arm.

Then, suddenly, the freezing rain stopped. Spike yanked out the last one to see a stunned, but still protected, since the needles merely bounced off the shield, pair of Mist ninja. Confused, he followed their gaze and found Katame standing behind a tree, untouched, in a position that _should_ have been invisible to the two.

Hari glanced back and forth between the three. He was sure they shouldn't be able to see the kunoichi. And yet, they stared at her in shocked silence. She stared back with-was that a smirk on her face?

His head twirling, he fell to his knees. He officially had no clue what was going on.

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Magusa stared at the slightly distorted image in front of her in utter shock. The ice, of course, was the source of the distortion since it deflected light at an odd angle, but that wasn't what surprised her.

The blue haired girl stood there, in the open field, untouched by their ice needle barrage. In fact, it seemed like she had an invisible shield well above her that the attack had embedded itself in.

_That_ was what surprised her.

She hadn't seen any hand signs, any motions, anything, from this 'Katame' as the jutsu began, or even during it for that matter. So, how could she stop their attack?

If it was an automatic technique, surely, it would take an enormous amount of chakra. Yet, she seemed like she was barely even winded.

That wasn't good.

Magusa knew that she, herself, had little chakra left. Summoning so much water from the ground and then from the atmosphere really took it out of her.

Her heavy breaths were nearly in sync with Toukan's, who she knew wasn't much better off, if not worse, than she was. Freezing that much falling water had drained his chakra, not to mention the ice pyramid, which continued to sap his strength since it had to be kept cold to be maintained.

This was _definitely_ not good.

Suddenly, a loud yell bellowed throughout the forest. "So, how do you like this?" The voice was vaguely recognizable, but nothing clicked to Rain. "This is technically meant for long range communication, but hey, you left yourself open to it."

She paled as she recognized the voice of Sokudo's opponent. Had it been a scream, she would have smirked, for it would have meant that her teammate had just won, but this shout seemed to spell just the opposite.

That worried her greatly.

However, now wasn't the time to be worrying. She had to find a way out of her own dilemma. She turned toward Blizzard, taking a deep breath.

"Any ideas, partner?"

He sent her an irritated glance. "We don't have enough chakra for an attack that might miss, and with our current level of chakra, we don't have any of those. So, we wait for them to waste some energy on my barrier."

"So, we have to wait for them to make a move?" He nodded simply. She frowned at him. She hated waiting.

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Shino dodged swing after swing. Subaya's agility remained unhindered with the now giant black sword. It was as if he still had the short sword he had been using moments before. Then again, the weapon was chakra expanded, so he probably _was_ using the short sword from before.

The bug user ducked under another attack and then jumped back into a nearby tree, panting. Taijutsu never had been his strong point, and now he was working to keep up with this swordsman. He could only stall for so long at close range.

However, when he looked back to where he had been, he saw no opponent. He landed on the branch and leapt off it once more, not wanting to be a stationary target. A moment later, that same branch was cut off at the trunk as Subaya appeared behind it. The swordsman smirked up at the airborne kikai host before disappearing in another flash of speed.

Shino's eyes widened. He was moving too fast! Even though he had planted a female on him, the bugs couldn't keep up!

Then, he heard a loud shout bellow from the forest. "So, how do you like this?"

Just as it finished, he heard a rustling coming from behind him. He adjusted himself so that he spun in mid-air. He caught sight of his opponent closing in on him. He held out his arm to release some of his bugs to block to coming attack, knowing that a mid-air dodge would be nearly impossible.

He was stunned when a sword jabbed through his barrier. The blackness was smaller than it had been and was still shrinking, but it was still large enough to reach him and put a gash the side of his stomach and partway into one of his arms. He gasped as the blade withdrew from his wound, disappearing into the swarm of kikai he had summoned.

Both fighters landed in crouches, one holding his bleeding side, one covered in bugs. Almost as one, they flopped down on their backs from exhaustion and pain. The shout from a few moments before continued, but neither combatant took in what it said.

"Call off your bugs, Aburame-san," said Subaya weakly. "This match is a draw."

Confused, Shino decided that letting his kikai knock his opponent out wasn't the best way for him to get answers to any of his questions and called his bugs back. His foe seemed to note that one crawled out from underneath the man's headband as he watched it fly back to Shino.

"So, that's how the buggers were able to track me."

"The female beetle releases pheromones that attract the male from miles away."

Subaya nodded, staring up at the sky. "I see."

"Explain this tie," demanded Shino simply.

Subaya laughed, starting to cough halfway through the action. Once he had control of his breathing again, he did as told. "The wound to your side would no doubt eventually knock you out from blood loss. Similarly, if your bugs kept sucking the chakra out of me, I would also fall unconscious. With these two outcomes, there's really no point in continuing as it will only harm the both of us."

Shino raised an eyebrow. "My kikai are working on clotting my wounds as we speak. I am unlikely to lose consciousness any time soon."

His opponent grunted. "Yeah, well, if I needed to, I could probably have summoned to energy to get up and stab you again." As if to demonstrate this, he forced himself to his feet with slow and staggering movements. Gradually, he walked over to where Shino lay and held out his hand. "Now, how 'bout we go check on our kids?"

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Sokudo stared up at the Taka that he now knew was an illusion. That's all it could be. That was the only way she could recover so quickly and gain so much strength. Come to think of it, she didn't seem to have any kunai in her hands, so how could she even have cut him at all?

It had to be genjutsu. There was no other option.

He brought his hands into the chakra gathering hand sign.

"Kai!" (Release)

The pulse of chakra he emitted disrupted the genjutsu, causing it to drop. He heard his foe gasp as she fell onto her stomach from where she had been kneeling in exactly the same position she had started the jutsu in.

Fox glanced over his shoulder just to be sure Taka hadn't actually cut him. Sure enough, his skin was clean and free of any gashes.

He stood up and glowered at his adversary. How dare she try such a trick on him? Well, she would pay for it to a much greater extent.

He watched as she pushed herself back to her knees, lungs heaving for oxygen. That genjutsu must've taken a lot out of her.

But, it didn't matter. She would pay none-the-less. He would make sure of it.

He ran through a short set of hand signs.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Mist Jutsu)

Immediately, a fog as thick as pea soup burst into existence around him. He smirked. This would make it easy for him to make a 'mistake'. Say, perhaps, piercing her through the heart.

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Taka blinked as her surroundings turned white. Her jutsu had really disoriented her. She shook her head to clear her mind before looking around. In every direction, there was a wall of fog. She scowled. She couldn't see a thing.

She silently reactivated her Nezumi no Jutsu (Rat Jutsu). She knew she would need it with such a disadvantage. She started to stand, only to have another wave of pain sweep over her, causing her to wince back down to her knees.

Then, she felt an additional pain flow from her thigh. Grimacing, she glanced down to see a senbon planted in her leg above the knee. She snarled and bent over to pluck it out, only to have another pierce her shoulder. She glared at it, irritated by her own helplessness before turning the glare towards a random direction in the fog.

It was then that an evil cackle echoed around her. "Don't you just love this mist?" boomed Sokudo's voice from all around. "It's so thick that it deflects and amplified sound, you know. It takes a lot of calculative knowledge to find where your opponent is. Isn't it wonderful?"

Taka frowned. The explanation seemed real enough, but the questions were obviously sarcastic. Then, two words registered in her head. _"'amplifies sound.'"_ She smirked. _"Perfect."_

She covered her mouth as she laughed with exaggerated intensity. After a few moments of this, Sokudo's voice echoed around her. "What's so funny?"

She stopped abruptly with the smirk still on her face, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Oh, just the weakness you just left for me to take advantage of."

She could imagine the confused look on his face, causing her to giggle even more, as he responded. "…What do you mean?..."

"You'll see." She lifted her hands into the hand sign that would turn the tables of the battle. "Ondori Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Rooster of the Zodiac Jutsu)

"**So, how do you like this?"** The entire forest shook as her voice spread through it. Animals took flight out of sheer panic. The shout carried for miles as the fog amplified her already intensified voice. **"This is technically meant for long range communication, but hey, you left yourself open to it."**

She heard a scream, followed by the thud of fallen flesh, signifying that her adversary had succumb to the attack on his ears. She smiled, proud of herself, as the mist receded.

Taka found her opponent less than ten feet away, quivering in the fetal position. He'd hear ringing for a long time to come, no doubt.

Unfortunately, she was no better off. The pain in her calves had slowly intensified. Not to mention how low she was on chakra. And now that her opponent was temporarily immobilized, she found the unconsciousness of sleep very tempting.

It wasn't like she could move. She couldn't run to her sensei's battlefield, or even walk for that matter. If she tried to crawl or anything similar, she would only be going away from the location that her teammates would check first.

So, what was the point in moving? And if there was no point in moving, what point was there in staying awake? Not like she could do anything if she was attacked…

It sounded reasonable to her.

So, she allowed herself to fall forward, softening the impact with her hands. As she hit the ground, she turned her head so that he cheek was on the ground and stared at the blue haired boy, Sokudo, who had been her opponent, with a satisfied smile on her face.

Okay, so maybe she hadn't actually won, but she had tied him. That was more than anyone else expected of her. She was allowed to be proud of that.

She fell asleep with that smile on her face.

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Katame smirked when she heard Taka's ninjutsu amplified shout. Sounded like she was doing fairly well. She looked back at her two tired opponents, who were still encased in ice. She knew they had wasted most of their chakra on the freezing rain and ice pyramid jutsu combinations. They were sitting there, ripe for the picking.

Then again, she didn't have all that much chakra herself. Maintaining her Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusions: False Surroundings Jutsu) was rather draining, especially on two people in such a wide area.

She casually stepped around the tree she had been standing behind before releasing the illusion, hoping her foes were too distracted by their conversation to notice the tree appearing behind her. Luckily, they were. It had been fortunate that the tree she had been under when they started their attack from the sky had a particularly sturdy branch attached to its trunk, or the attack may have gotten her anyway.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching her. She looked up and found Hari walking towards her with a bloodied head and left shoulder and wet right shoulder pad and arm, where the icy rain had melted on his spiked pad. A frown graced his confused lips.

She looked back at the ice pyramid her adversaries were encased in. Hari stopped next to her, examining her curiously. He opened his mouth as if to speak but thought better of it. Then, he joined her in staring at their enemies, who were now, in turn, observing them.

"I saw the stunned look on their faces after their attack," Spike stated without even glancing away, "What did you do to them?"

Katame cocked her head so she could see him and raised an eyebrow. "The same genjutsu as always," she whispered, making sure her adversaries couldn't hear. She became annoyed when she noticed that both her's and Hari's breathing was more ragged than normal.

"The Demonic Illusions thing?" he whispered in response, turning his head to view her. She nodded.

A silence invaded the clearing. The two pairs watched each other in a confused tension. It was Hari who finally broke the silence.

"Now what?"

His companion frowned. He probably wouldn't like her after this. _"Oh well…"_

"Close your eyes," she commanded.

"What? Why?"

"I have an idea."

"And you're not going to tell me?" She shook her head. He grimaced. "So, I'm going to be a guinea pig left in the dark…"

"Just do it," she demanded, irritation clouding her voice.

Hari scowled but did so. After a few seconds, he asked for the second time, "Now what?"

"…Just don't move."

He sighed. _"Sheesh, when did she get so controlling?" _he thought, slightly annoyed.

Then, he heard her move closer to him. He blushed as he pushed his mind from the gutter with no small amount of force. Not the best time for that kind of ideas.

He felt her grab his arm and lift ever-so-slightly. Now, his thought processes were gone, replaced by images only a pervert could come up with. He knew his nose had started to trickle blood, but he couldn't stop himself. He just hoped the blue haired genjutsu user didn't notice.

Suddenly, he felt weightless. The grasp on his arm had disappeared, and he now had a new sensation coursing through him; Something gliding past his shoulders and down his body; something he knew shouldn't be there for there was none earlier.

Wind.

His eyes popped open as he realized why he was weightless, only to see a wall of ice approaching fast. She had thrown him!

He let out a cry of horror, turning as best he could in the air so that his shoulder would impact first, covering his head in the process.

He knew the impact was coming, but when it did, he hadn't expected it to jar the entirety of his upper body. His spikes pierced the ice, sending cracks all along its surface, weakening it enough for his body to break through. Then, his body continued forward even farther, through the barrier. The entire shield shattered from the loss of a side.

His form flew a moment longer before connecting to a second body, sending both tumbling into a ball of dust. Hari came to a stop with his face on a pair of the softest pillows he had ever felt. So soft that he didn't even want to move. He lay there, perfectly content to forget the fight he had previously been in and fall asleep, until a voice brought him back to life.

"Aw, Spike…I didn't know you felt that way."

He recognized the voice as Magusa's and instantly realized what his head was between. He shot up, nose already starting to bleed, only for his legs to refuse to move from their kneeling position, causing him to wobble and fall back down, catching himself with his hands. He immediately shoved his nose onto the cloth of his left shoulder in an attempt to stem the blood flow.

Rain laughed from beneath him.

He frowned as red stained his shirt. "I didn't mean to…"

The blonde laughed again. "Oh, I know." She smirked. "But you sure did stay there a long time."

Hari blushed, trying to ignore his perverted instincts. He failed miserably as the blood flow picked up once more.

Magusa giggled softly at his reaction. "You're so fun to tease."

Spike rolled his eyes, nose still spraying his shoulder red. "And you're not fair.

The blonde raised an eyebrow in slight amusement. "Hm…Maybe…But would you mind getting off of me?"

Hari's brows furrowed in confusion. Hoping the bleeding was done, he looked at the girl beneath him. She held an all-too-innocent smile on her face, at which he rolled his eyes again. Then, he noticed that his hands were clamped on her wrists, and his legs were straddling her, locking her firmly to the ground.

He realized she was at his mercy.

All he had to do was lean in, and he could kiss her.

"_Wait. What?!"_ he thought when he realized what he was thinking about doing, _"No, that's not what I want-well, it is, but it's not what I meant!"_ He mentally banged his head against a wall.

"You can stop fantasizing about me and get off any time now," said Rain evenly. She smirked when this brought on a heavy blush from the boy.

Said boy decided not to respond to that comment, knowing that if he did, it would be like telling her that her assumption was exactly correct. Instead, he focused on moving his knees from beside her hip.

Both legs refused to move.

He internally cursed Katame for throwing him at that ice pyramid. He was immobile because of it! He would be useless in the battle, making it two on one. That wouldn't do at all! He would just have to keep the blonde here.

Under him.

At his mercy.

Where he could take advantage of her.

He immediately shook his head, clearing away any farther perverted thought.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" The irritation in Magusa's voice was obvious now.

Hari smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but my lower body can't move, so in the interest of fairness, I'm keeping you here with me."

The kunoichi grimaced. "That's not fair. He needs my jutsu to be able to use his own at all."

"It doesn't matter," interrupted a voice before Spike could respond. The two turned to see Katame approaching. "The destruction of his ice barrier drained Toukan of what chakra he had left."

Looking in the direction Katame motioned, the pair saw said shinobi curled up on the ground.

"So, he can get off me now?" The green haired genin returned his attention to the blonde underneath him to find a seductive grin on her face. "I'm not used to being the one on the bottom."

He turned a whole new shade of red as he fought back the onslaught of perverted thoughts. He started to push himself up when he felt a hand grab the back of his head, holding it firmly in place.

"Not yet. First, admit defeat." He recognized Katame's voice from behind him. He heard a _shink_ from behind him followed shortly by the sight of a steel blade at the blonde's throat. "Admit defeat." The words held both a command and threat that Spike had never heard from the quiet genjutsu user.

The water summoner panicked for a moment before calming herself. "Fine," she said grudgingly, "You win."

The pressure on the back of his head released as the sword was pulled back, telling him that he could get up. He tried to stand only to fail again and fall back to being face to face with Rain. He cocked his head to look at Katame.

"A little help, please."

The amusement in her eyes told him he wouldn't be receiving any of said help from her.

"Oh, come on! Are you that pathetic?" asked the blonde beneath him.

Anger flared in Hari's eyes. "I don't see you doing anything! Why don't you roll me off of you?!"

His anger was matched by that of the kunoichi beneath him. "I would if I could, but I'm out of chakra! I'm practically running on empty!"

"At least you can run! My legs won't budge an inch!-" He was about to continue when he felt his body being lifted.

"No lover's quarrel today." Katame held him up under the arms. He protested weakly to the claim. He watched disappointedly as Magusa stood up and walked over to her ally.

Resignedly, Hari turned his head so he could see Katame out of the corner of his eye.

"So, we won, huh?" She nodded. He let a grin spread across his face. "Do I get a piggy-back ride back to town?"

Katame wasted no time in letting him fall to the ground unceremoniously.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

((Again, I apologize for the long update time. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter on time. After that, though, I'm planning a one shot that has nothing to do with this story, so you may have to wait a month for that update. Just a little forewarning.

If you want me to write faster, reviews help. . ))


	7. Back Home

((Hello again

((Hello again. I got this one out on time. Yahoo! Also, please don't kill me if you don't agree with any of the pairings I made. They are only going to be a small part of the story, and I only made them so because I need them to have children for the story. Anyway, here's the next chapter, though I'm sorry if it seems a bit short.

Disclaimer: Oh, what's this? An 'I do not own' sign? Hm…puts up on Naruto manga Ah, it's perfect.))

**Back Home**

The first thing Taka felt as she slowly regained consciousness was a dull ache in her legs. She shuffled where she was, yet nothing changed. She grimaced. She didn't want to wake up, but it seemed there was no chance of getting back to sleep. So, she let her senses expand.

She found that what she lay on was very soft, no doubt a bed. It was rather quiet around her, though there was a dull roar that was muffled as if she were cut off from the rest of the world, at a distance from it. Her nose crinkled as a diseased, decaying smell bombarded her.

She slowly opened her eyes to view a blank white ceiling. She grunted irritably as she realized where she was.

"_A hospital…A stupid hospital…What did I do to deserve this?"_

She briefly scanned the room, finding little more than white walls and Katame standing next to the door. Taka groaned as she sat up. "What happened?" she asked, eyes still half glazed over in sleep.

Katame watched as her teammate's eyes wandered around the nearly empty room for the second time. "They put you on sedatives."

The redhead blinked blankly at a window she hadn't noticed there before. "No wonder I can't focus," she stated in slight confusion. She swung to face her blue haired companion. "Why'd they do that exactly?"

The genjutsu user rolled her eyes, knowing her friend probably wouldn't remember a word of this the next time she woke up. "Your foe cut through a couple of nerves in your legs, causing them to send intense pain signals to your brain. You fell unconscious from it."

"Oh…" was the intelligent reply from Taka. She frowned thoughtfully, though those thoughts could be anything but organized. "Well, tell them to take me off it."

Katame hesitated, unsure whether the kunoichi in front of her was still delusional or was being serious. "…You sure?"

She nodded. "I want to understand what's going on, and I can't do that when I'm drugged up," the redhead explained seriously.

Katame gave her one last amused glance before walking out the door in search of a nurse. This was going to be one interesting day.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari glared at the white wall opposite him. He sat propped up against the headboard of his own hospital bed. He had absolutely nothing to do. So, he spent his time glowering at the completely blank, completely useless, and completely boring wall in front of him.

No doubt about it; he was bored out of his mind.

He glanced out of the corner of his eyes at Shino, who stood leaning against the wall next to his bed. _"Lucky bastard…"_ the genin thought irritably.

The bug user had suffered from a deep gash in his side and had received numerous stitches once they had returned to Konoha to patch it up. Yet, not long after, he had been allowed up and about as long as he didn't stretch the repairing skin.

Hari, however, wasn't even allowed to stand. Not that he _could_ stand, having had a nerve in his lower back pinched between backbones accidentally, effectively canceling any order his mind sent to his lower body, but the restriction still annoyed him. Heck, he couldn't even _feel_ his legs. And it wasn't even the enemy that had done it to him. It was Katame! And now he sat, stuck in a hospital bed, in a back brace!

Not to mention the fact that he had images of an exhausted Katame and his still injured sensei carrying both him and Taka back home in desperation.

Oh, yes, the last few days had been just _dandy_.

It was little consolation to know that they had succeeded in deterring the most eminent threat to the scroll, having won their little wager with one win and two ties. They had defeated the enemy shinobi, but Hari was no happier.

"When can I leave, damn it!?" he shouted rhetorically.

It didn't surprise him when Shino responded, having learned he was more talkative with fewer people. "As soon as your nerve repairs itself."

Spike sent him a half-hearted glare. "And that will be?"

"A few more days, Kuwashii-san," replied a doctor, walking in, "You really shouldn't yell like that. It'll disturb the other patients." The genin scowled at him. The doctor ignored it, going over the stand next to the foot of his bed. "Can you move your legs yet?"

An unbelievable urge to implant the soles of his feet into the doctor's face overtook him. When failed, his efforts redoubled at the less satisfying goal of his chest, waist, groin, and legs respectively. Hell, even a sharp toe jab would have appeased this desire. _"Balls…"_

"Would I even be here if I could?" he finally asked angrily. The doctor sighed exasperatedly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sokudo scowled angrily and flinched when he couldn't hear the sound. He scanned the four in front of him, Toukan on the far left with Subaya between him and Magusa and an additional fourth person on the far right. He watched as his sensei said something but only an inaudible murmur came out. _"Okay, maybe I do need medical attention,"_ he thought, realizing his handicap.

"What?" he asked, though he had no clue how loud he had asked it. From the flinches of half those standing in front of him, it must have been pretty loud.

Here, his teacher responded again, and again, he couldn't hear a word of it. He scowled. This was going to be annoying.

He motioned to the one person of the four he didn't recognize and pointed to his ears, mouthing the words "fix it."

The man nodded and moved so he was standing behind the chair Sokudo sat in. He lifted his hands over the genin's ears and the faint blue glow of chakra surrounded his fingers. A moment later, he retracted his hands.

That's the best I can do…" The man's voice was quiet as if a long distance away, but it was there.

"Good," Fox responded. He immediately regretted it as he heard what sounded like a completely different voice from his own in his ear. He became suddenly woozy as his balance was thrown off kilter while his inner ear tried to keep up. He steadied himself on the arm of the chair. "What the hell?" he demanded, once more regretting it as the room began to spin.

"You probably shouldn't talk," stated his 'healer' as he stepped back in front of him. "I was able to fix your outer ear but not your inner. Your balance will be messed up, especially if you speak, until you can get back to Kirigakure."

Sokudo glowered at him.

"Oh, be glad you can even hear, Foxie," came Magusa's far away voice, "You're lucky we found another Mist team and that they had a decent medic nin with them."

He grunted. That redheaded girl had done some real damage to him. She had figured out a way to use his own jutsu against him and had taken full advantage of it. He respected her for that. Perhaps, she would make a better rival than he first thought.

"So, what happened?" he asked, grimacing as the room swirled for the second time.

The four stared at him blankly before Subaya and Magusa shared a glance at each other, silently deciding which one would speak. Subaya decided he would. "You tell us. We don't know how you got like that."

The blue haired genin frowned at the misunderstanding. He shook his head, flinching when it had the same effect as speaking, causing his stomach to churn. "The wager," he clarified once he had regained his balance, only for it to sway as he did so.

"Oh!" Rain said, realizing the mistake. "We lost, thus failing the mission." She gave a pointed glare to her teacher for gambling the objective like that. "Subaya-sensei tied just like you did, and me and Toukan lost.

Fox raised an eyebrow. It wasn't every day you ran into a team that could defeat his teammates together. After all, their personalities may be like yin and yang, but their teamwork was astounding. Then again, they couldn't have used _that_ ability or they would be in much worse shape, as in shivering their butts off.

Still, this Konoha team would make great rivals for them. It would make a great goal to strive for, defeating them. He couldn't wait to see the abilities of his 'Master's' teammates.

He found himself grinning, despite the bad news he had just been given.

"What are you planning, young man?"

Sokudo looked up at his sensei with a smirk. "I think I just found a new goal for us, old man."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Ouch! Damn it! Why does it hurt so badly?" shouted Taka from where she sat in her hospital bed.

The nurse sighed. "You asked us to take you off the sedatives. You should have known this would happen."

Taka groaned. "Yeah, but I don't remember it being _this_ bad!"

"In battle, one tends to block out the true magnitude of pain so that they can continue to function at approximately normal levels," interjected Katame from where she stood by the door, looking rather amused.

"Ugh…" the redhead moaned, laying back heavily onto her bed. "This isn't for your enjoyment you know!"

The other kunoichi shrugged, putting on a mask of indifference, though the amusement remained in her eyes.

"Would you like us to put you back on the sedatives?" asked the nurse kindly.

"No!" Taka snapped before becoming more civilized as she realized who she was dealing with. "No. Thank you, but I want to get used to it, so I can talk like a normal person."

The nurse shrugged and walked out.

Taka turned toward her companion. "So, what happened?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shino stood awkwardly in front of the Hokage, who sat behind her desk, looking serious. He didn't know why he was there again. He had already given the report. He didn't see what else there was.

Yet, he had been summoned and told it had something to do with his team's previous C rank mission. He could only guess as to what it was.

He waited for the Godaime to begin the conversation. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long.

"You feel you completed your late mission near the border successfully?" she asked cautiously.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade frowned before explaining. "The night after you left, as they were preparing to move the document, someone broke in and stole it."

The bug user frowned behind his high collar. "_So, he didn't keep his word after all…"_ he thought sullenly.

"Apparently, this person wasn't even a shinobi," she continued. She noticed the shocked look he gave her, even through his sunglasses. "He had very basic combat training, and that was all."

Shino stared at her, for once stunned by received information. "We failed?...To a common man?" His face contorted into a grimace as the Godaime nodded. Failure wasn't a concept he was used to, even more so when that failure wasn't even caused by a ninja.

And he realized painfully that it was completely his fault. He had chosen his team's health over the mission, and because of it, they weren't there when they needed to be.

Granted, it had been a necessary choice. No true ninja would abandon a comrade.

But that didn't mean the nobles, or the one that hired them for that matter, would see it that way.

"I realize this is difficult for you…" said Tsunade after the silence had stretched on briefly, "But I still expect you to enter your team in the upcoming chuunin exams."

This statement caught the bug user off guard. Why should the Hokage care if he entered his team in the chuunin exams?

"The Mist team you defeated is one of Kirigakure's most promising genin teams," she continued, answering his unasked question, "I have already received word that they will be entered in the chuunin exams. It will be great business for the village if we have a team that can match them."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," replied Shino. He hadn't really thought about the exams. They were still two months away. Nevertheless, he would've entered his team anyway, having seen their capabilities and heard of their reactions in such difficult situations. There was little doubt in his mind that they _could_ make chuunin. The question was, _would_ they?

"Good…Don't ponder on your last failure. You made the right decision by returning to Konoha for medical treatment." The bug user nodded appreciatively at her reassurances. She obviously wasn't only good with physical health issues but also with matters of emotion. The jounin knew she had personal experience in that area. Though, it went a little wasted where he was concerned, not being one for allowing his emotions to control him.

"You're dismissed."

Shino bowed to the Hokage before leaving. He frowned as he closed the door behind him. Now, he had to find a way to tell his students of the failure without damaging their confidence.

Tsunade glanced regretfully at the stack of paperwork she still had to do before sighing. She briefly looked around the room, and, realizing she was alone, she smirked slyly. She reached into a drawer of her desk and brought out a bottle of sake. She took a swig, swimming in the wonderful alcohol. This was the life. After all, why do now what you can force others to do later?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A boy in his early teens stood in a hospital room, teal eyes staring at the sleeping patient in front of him apologetically. His pale skin and light brown, baggy clothes fit in well with the surrounding white walls. Even the white flower in his hand blended wonderfully. Only his inch-long red hair made him stand out.

He frowned as he gazed at the redheaded girl that lay before him. She had a hard enough life as it was. She didn't need such a difficult mission so early after graduating.

He rolled his eyes. Then again, she was probably the one that got them into it. She had a bad habit of finding trouble in some shape or form, not to mention that it was nearly impossible to keep her occupied long. He smiled wistfully as he imagined her complaining after only ten minutes of her first mission.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a touch to his arm. "Here you are, sir." He turned to see a young nurse holding a vase filled with a few inches of water.

He took the vase from her and dropped the flower in. "Arigatou." He heard the nurse leave as he turned back to the other redhead. He placed the vase on a small desk next to the bed. He stared sorrowfully at her for a moment before turning to leave.

He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder. "Get well soon, Taka-sama." With that, he slid through the door quietly and left the hospital.

Taka waited a few minutes to make sure he was gone before ending her false sleep. She sat up and looked at the flower by her bed. She shook her head sullenly. "Oh, Hato-kun…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Itadakimasu!" The blonde's voice rang out from Ichiraku's Ramen stall.

The man next to him sighed. "Naruto, you really shouldn't be so loud. It's obnoxious."

"Aw, come on, Iruka-sensei," Naruto choked out through a mouthful of ramen noodles, "Lighten up!"

Iruka sighed exasperatedly before beginning his own bowl of ramen in a much more polite manner. After the blonde finished his first bowl and was getting ready to start on a second, the older shinobi thought it a good time to start a conversation.

"So, how's Hinata-san been?" he asked politely.

The demon host perked up at the sound of her name. He quickly swallowed the noodles in his mouth, choosing to use what little politeness he had. "Great! I think we're finally getting past that self-confidence problem she had!"

Iruka frowned. "I thought she was past that when she married you."

The blonde shook his head, for once more involved in the conversation than his favorite food. "She still puts a high value on what others think of her. She's getting better about it though." He immediately returned to his ramen.

"Hm…That's good." He tilted his head to the side curiously. "What about everyone else?" When he only received a confused, noodle-filled look, he elaborated. "The rest of the Konoha Twelve."

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed, still slurping his precious ramen. "Sasuke and Sakura had another baby."

"Another? What is that, 20?"

The blonde laughed, spraying ramen everywhere. "Nah, Iruka-sensei. Not that many…" He stopped with his mouth open as if to continue.

The older shinobi sent him an incredulous glance. "You don't remember how many it is, do you?" The Kyuubi host hung his head in defeat, making his old instructor laugh at him. He ended with a sigh, shaking his head. "You really are hopeless, aren't you?" He looked back over to see Naruto back to stuffing his face. Iruka shook his head sadly. Typical Naruto… "What about the rest of them?"

Naruto swallowed the last of his bowl, making a quick request to the cook for more, before beginning the list.

"Ino's constantly yelling at Shika for being lazy as ever, but you can tell the love is there. Chouji eats as much as ever. Neji's still head of the Hyuuga ninja corps. with a stick still shoved up his ass. Oh! And Tenten has landed herself a genin team with my daughter on it."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Apparently, she's a really good teacher, too, because Hinashin comes home every night really happy. Though, how the woman can do that and be married to a Hyuuga is beyond me." He paused briefly before continuing with his list. "Lee also has a group of genin, as do Shino and Kiba." He stopped, mentally counting off the Konoha Twelve in his head to make sure he got everyone. When he was sure he had, he nodded satisfactorily.

He drooled as another bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. "What about you, Iruka-sensei? Why are you still teaching at the academy? You could easily be a jounin if not ANBU by now," he asked, holding himself off of the new food just long enough to finish the last sentence, before practically jumping in and devouring the noodles at a rather unhealthy rate.

The older ninja sighed longingly. "Yeah, I know, but I really enjoy teaching the next generations. I get to watch as children exceed their parents, or at least the beginning stages of it. It gives me a sense of accomplishment." He paused, lost in thought.

He had no idea how long he sat like that, thinking of his current students, but the next thing he knew, Naruto was tapping his shoulder. "This is on you, right?" the blonde inquired hopefully.

The graying chuunin blinked blankly. "Uh…Sure…" He went to grab some noodles from his bowl and frowned when he found that they were cold.

He looked at the counter next to him. What he saw made his mouth drop to the floor. The pile of bowls was stacked so high that it was almost touching the roof of the stall. He spun around to find Konoha's 'most surprising ninja' already gone. His mouth moved wordlessly as his anger gathered together. "Na-ru-to!"

Off in the distance, the blonde laughed good-naturedly. It was so fun taking advantage of his father figure.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The early morning sky erupted in a bright red in the forest around Konohagakure. A second later, a giant fire cloud lifted from the trees below, gradually cooling into a soft gray. The smoke slowly dissipated through the trees, revealing a completely undamaged woods.

Katame grimaced. That hadn't been what she wanted. Sure, it was a powerful genjutsu, but it was too big and too flashy. The enemy would realize it was a genjutsu before it even had a chance to even make them flinch. No genin could make a ninjutsu as large and powerful as that. Any enemy with a little common sense would know that. She couldn't have that.

She walked back to where she had laid out some scrolls. She glanced at the jutsu combination scroll, confirming that she had supposedly combined the jutsu correctly, though it was impossible to tell with mere theory. She turned to the other scrolls she had, ones on fire ninjutsu and illusionary genjutsu, looking for a few jutsu she could experiment with.

She raised an eyebrow as she found two she thought might work. She stood and walked back to the spot she had been in before. She took a deep breath, going over the risks of such experimentations once more in her head.

If she put too much chakra into the jutsu, it could fail, and she would have wasted a great deal of her chakra. For that reason, she tended to gradually add chakra as she went through the hand signs until it felt about right. The problem with that was that she sometimes didn't realize just how much chakra she was adding and would fall unconscious from chakra exhaustion after the jutsu.

That sometimes caused problems.

She just hoped this new technique wasn't one of those jutsu.

She began an experimental set of hand signs, vaguely wondering if they would combine the jutsu the way she wanted them to. She stopped increasing her chakra output halfway through the signs, thinking it would be enough.

She finished the jutsu and focused on releasing the technique, unsure what to call it until she saw it. The ground rumbled lightly as the ability took effect…

Then, it stopped.

Katame frowned. _"Not enough chakra…"_

Determined to get at least one useful jutsu out of the training session, she went through the hand signs again.

Moments after the jutsu worked successfully, her body fell, unconscious, to the ground due to chakra exhaustion.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari walked through the somewhat empty evening streets of Konoha. He had been released from the hospital that morning and was in a fairly good mood because of it, despite how he had been bored most of the day.

His day had consisted of visiting the arcade…without any money - that had been a _great_ idea - eating lunch, visiting Taka - who had been asleep -, going home to wash up simply because he was bored, followed by an early dinner. And now this; walking the streets pointlessly.

Yet, he wasn't mad, as he would've been on any normal day. He wasn't even irritated. Perhaps, it was because _anything_ would be better than that boring, musty hospital that this was true. Or maybe it was the fact that he was currently walking through an area of Konoha known for its hot springs. He guessed it was the latter.

As he walked, he heard a perverted giggle nearby. He stopped and looked around. Then, he heard it again. He looked up and to the right to see a piece of white hair sticking through the leaves.

Intrigued, he jumped up into the tree. There, he found an old man with a long mane of white hair, strange stripes on his face, and a miniature telescope glued to his eye by way of his hand. The man giggled perversely once more.

Hari raised an eyebrow. _"Perverted old man,"_ he thought approvingly. He approached the man, making intentional noise so that he would know he was there. The man glanced at him through his unoccupied eye.

"What do you want, kid?" Hari barely received another thought as the man returned to his peeping with a perverted grin.

The genin frowned. He didn't like being ignored. Growing up without parents tended to give you a want for attention. Then again, being ignored could have its upsides. It allowed him to do things he couldn't while he was being watched. Now, for instance, he was able to-

He snatched the scope from the old man's hands.

"What the-? Hey!" The old man spun, ready to tackle the kid for his precious view back, only to see a sight that couldn't have made him prouder of a kid he didn't even know.

The child had the spy glass to his eye looking in the same direction he had been with a perverted grin to match his own. _"I have a clone!"_ he thought excitedly.

He glanced at the genin's bright green hair, which could easily be made to camouflage with the leaves, and his clothes, which could just as easily be changed to match the color of the branches. He even had a leaf hitai-ate signaling him as a Konoha shinobi. The man grinned happily. This kid couldn't be more perfect.

Overwhelmed by the pride he had for this unknown child, tears ran down his cheeks. "Long lost son!" he yelled dramatically, bending down on one knee. Hari stared at him in horror, beginning to motion for him to quiet. Of course, the old man didn't. "Where have you been all my life? I have finally found someone to pass along my traditions to! Come! I must teach you the art of _research_!" He finished with a perverted giggle, silently drumming his fingers in the air.

High pitched squeals emitted from below them, most consisting of the word, "Pervert!"

Hari gave the old man a gaze of sheer terror. "Run!"


	8. Perverts Ahoy!

((I'm sorry for the late update, but I _had_ warned you about me doing a one-shot, which is posted btw, in the coming weeks. Besides, I already told you I tend to write slower in the summer because I do most of my writing during school once I finish my schoolwork (**edit:** though this has changed since I started college). If I hadn't said it specifically in this fic, it's been in my profile, so you shoulda known. Also, my beta was out of town last week, when I finished the chapter and didn't get back until last Tuesday. Unfortunately for you, I don't feel comfortable enough without having him take a look over it to post it, so I had to wait another week to post it. Since he's not here to apologize, I apologize in his stead.

Ranting aside, I've decided to try to write a few filler chapters-sorry, but you should be used to it by now thanks to the anime-before the Chuunin exams in hopes of getting a few more characters for me to work with, so if I ever said how many chapters til the Chuunin exams, add another two or so to that.

Update: Okay, so I lied about them being filler. I worked them into the story by accident.-sigh-sometimes my creative juices flow a little too well, while most of the time, they fail me.

Anyway…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sadly, I'm not creative enough for something as grandiose as that. Enjoy.))

**Pervert Ahoy!**

Hari stood, leaning against the mountain on the head of the Fourth Hokage on the Hokage monuments. His eye was black, his lip was swelling, probably busted, and he had a stream of red running through his mask, but otherwise, he seemed perfectly fine. Better than fine. He actually looked quite pleased with himself.

Then, the small eye-smile disappeared in favor of an irritated sigh. He had been waiting there for an hour. How long was it supposed to take?! Well, as long as he didn't think about the future meeting, he was content. Better than content. Because that meant he was thinking about the few minutes before he had appeared on the monument.

He thought back over the scene once more in effort to keep himself from any negative emotions.

0o0o0o0oFlashback no Jutsu0o0o0o0o

_Hari leapt out of the tree in an effort to escape, his eye and lip still uninjured. The old man that had been with him jumped to join him with an agility that definitely shouldn't belong to someone of his age. The two ran side-by-side for a few seconds, the older man obviously holding back some of his speed so he could keep stride with the kid._

_Hari saw the old geezer glance over his shoulder, so he did the same and saw that a few of the women had taken highly hostile action to the fact that they had been spied on by two perverts. They were chasing after them with either a towel barely covering them or nothing on at all, the 'pervert security' following not too far behind, and felt his nose start to drip. He looked back over to the man next to him and found him drooling perversely, still looking behind him. Hari shook his head sadly, realizing that the guy had only stayed next to him so he could stare as the angry, naked women chased after him._

"_Meet me on top of the Hokage monument in ten, kid. I wanna talk." The green-haired genin looked over to see that the graying man had addressed him. He nodded briefly, watching as the man, no doubt missing his nod, turned down a side alley. Taking the hint, he followed shortly thereafter down another alley on the other side of the road. This would split their hunters up for sure._

_He ran a short ways down and skidded to a halt. This would make things easier to handle. He turned, surprised and saddened to see that only two of the dozen or so women had followed him, though absolutely none of the security force had done so. Thankful there had been so few people in the area to make the women squeamish, he realized he was perhaps lucky that so few had followed him._

_He watched the glorious scene as the two nearly nude women bull rushed him in what seemed to him to be slow motion. His mouth dropped open in awe of the figures that would no doubt soon be pummeling him into dust accompanied by an increase in the blood flow from his nose. He made all that he could out of those moments, living life to the fullest so that he was ready to give it up when they caught him._

_It was over much too soon for his interests as the two tackled him to the dirt in the side alley and proceeded to pound him mercilessly._

0o0o0o0oEnd Flashback no Jutsu0o0o0o0o

Hari grinned perversely at the wonderful memory, the stream of blood on his mask widening. Oh yes, the beating had hurt, but that was okay. He had gotten himself a _very_ close look at some wonderful flesh. Not only that, but once they realized they were still naked and screamed, he had gotten an amazing view of them running back the way they had come. A _very_ amazing view.

Yes, he was definitely a pervert. And he didn't care. In fact, he enjoyed it as if it were his favorite hobby. Actually, it was his favorite hobby. But not everyone needed to know that. Not yet anyway. Only his fellow perverts were gifted with this knowledge.

Which brought him back to the matter of waiting for a certain white haired pervert to show his face where he had said he would. The genin grimaced. This was taking much too long for someone as fast as the old man. He was a ninja for Kami's sake, and it was blaringly obvious. And he was definitely more powerful than Hari, himself, was, as his strength was speed, which had been easily matched by the other shinobi. So, what was taking him? The spike wearing boy decided to give him another five minutes before he bolted.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait that long. A minute later, the man walked up the stairs to the Hokage heads with a wide, perverted grin plastered to his visage. He seemed completely untouched, much to the disappointment of the younger pervert.

"What happened to you, kid?" he asked as he approached, still with his grin on his face.

Hari looked up at the man and smirked. "I let them catch me." He saw the quizzical look the man was giving him and decided to answer it before he could put the question into words. "It gave me a grip of some nice flesh." His smirk widened in conjunction with the eyes of the old geezer.

From the old man's perspective, light erupted from behind the kid that he could only consider a godsend as the voices of what he assumed were angels took on their role in the scene with a chorus of "Aaaaaaahhhhh". Then, the gray haired man gave him a praising gaze.

"Where have you been all my life?! Are you sure you're not my son?!"

Hari gave him a mild glare before answering. "Yes, I'm sure. You're a little too old to have a child my age."

The old man frowned momentarily. Then, he returned to his typical self and put an arm around the green haired youth. "Come, my son, I must teach you the wonderful ways of the super pervert!"

Hari glared at him out of the corner of his eye, irritated by the man's persistence. "Who are you again?" he asked, weakly trying to pull the hand off of his shoulder.

The man gasped as he realized he hadn't done his trademark introduction. He took a few steps away from the boy and spun around. He put one arm in front of him and lifted one foot slightly into the air. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh yeah, that's right! I am the man whose name shines upon the heavens! The face that strikes fear into the face of evil! The charming good looks that can make a woman's heart melt! One of the Sannin... Jiraiya-sama ENTERS!"

The boy gaped, unimpressed until the very end of the odd dance, now stunned that such a powerful ninja could be in his presence. Then, his expression turned doubtful. "What makes you think I'll believe you're the great Jiraiya-dono?"

Jiraiya fumed silently for a moment before collecting himself, though he was honored that the kid used such a respectful honorific with his name. He couldn't afford to get mad at this kid, even if the brat _didn't _believe he was the great Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sennin. Thus, he decided to take a different route in convincing the child, though how well it would work was questionable.

"You think _anyone_ would choose to make you, a pervert already in your young age, their student besides a super pervert himself?"

The boy looked like he wanted to believe but still couldn't as he replied. "Okay, so you're a super pervert. How does that prove that you're Jiraiya-dono?"

The old man huffed silently, debating whether the kid was worth his trump card. In the end, he decided that having a 'son' was definitely worth it.

He pulled out a beaten book from his back pocket. Hari eyed it curiously.

"Behold! The original, unedited version of the first Icha Icha Paradise book!"

The boy stared in awe at the book. Hesitantly, he reached out when the Sannin motioned for him to take it. With extreme reverence, he took the book in his outstretched hands. Just holding it there was the experience of a lifetime for Hari. Then, just to be sure that this was the original book, he opened it up to the back cover, being as careful as possible with the object of perfection.

There it was. The signature of his idol. An exact copy of the one printed in later copies of the book. He flipped back a couple of pages in an effort to be absolute sure, since the great Jiraiya would _never_ lose the original of his beloved series. Sure enough, sketches of many of the scenes from the book were there, for use as visuals. Even the writing seemed almost identical, with a few changes that had evidently made the book flow more smoothly.

With extreme respect, he looked back at the white haired man in front of him. _The _Jiraiya. Right there in front of him. It simply _had_ to be. And he was trying to convince _him,_ Hari, to be his protégé in perversion. In return, he had received doubt and suspicion. Rightly so, but still; he had to do something to make up for it.

He knelt down in front of the hermit and bowed low and repeatedly. "All hail the almighty super-pervert and master of written perversion, Jiraiya-dono!"

The sannin grinned. The kid did know how to be respectful. He just wasn't respectful to just anybody. And he, Jiraiya, was one of those people that he was respectful of. This kid was even better than he could have dreamed of.

"So, you trust me now?

The genin stood up, still looking at the ground, ashamed of his earlier doubt. "Of course, Jiraiya-dono. You are my idol of all idols. A super-pervert that's still as powerful a ninja as there ever was! That is what I would like to be! Then, I would be strong enough to defend those important to me while still keeping with my nature!"

Jiyaiya had proud tears in his eyes as he knelt down to be eye level with Hari. "What's your name, kid?"

"Kuwashii Hari."

"Hari-kun…We are going to make one helluva team!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Taka walked with a small smile on her face. She had _finally_ been released from the hospital, and she planned on making the best of it…

Unfortunately, she had been ordered to go straight home and rest some more. She was allowed to walk around the house and such, but she couldn't do anything strenuous or simply stroll around the city because they were afraid the nerves might re-sever themselves somehow.

She sighed exasperatedly. Why did she have to follow doctor's orders again? _"Oh, right. I like being healthy…" _Why did she like being healthy, you ask? Because she liked being a ninja. Why did she like being a ninja? Because she liked that it got her away from home for most of the day, if not days at a time as the last mission had. The very home she was headed to at this very moment.

She grimaced as the small two story house came into view. Yup, small. It barely had three rooms to a floor. And this for a clan of Konoha. She laughed darkly at herself. _"What clan? It barely has four people in it."_

She sighed, ending in a frown, as she approached the sidewalk that lead straight to the front door. She wasn't too enthusiastic about seeing those other three people. Well, one she didn't mind but the others…Not to mention how that one tended to be reclusive around the other two. Kami, why weren't things ever easy?

She stopped at the end of the sidewalk, glaring at her home irritably. _"Needs a welcome to Hell sign…"_ she thought with devoid humor. Then, she looked over toward the underside of the gutter on the corner of the house to see a note that said exactly that hanging there just in view if you knew where to find it. _"Oh, wait. It already does…"_

She grimaced. Maybe she should have asked to stay in the hospital. It would have been better than this pathetic excuse for a home in which she lived. _"Home is where the heart is…"_ she thought longingly. _"I guess I have no home then…"_ she concluded sullenly. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. _"Oh well…"_

She sighed one last dreadful time before walking up the sidewalk, placing an emotionless mask over her face. She stopped briefly in front of the door, taking one last steadying breath before opening the door to her figurative torture chamber.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A man with fur clothing covering nearly his entire body stood, leaning against a tree. His face held a look of supreme irritation as he looked at the ground in front of him, letting the brown strands of hair that weren't held back in a ponytail fall into his view. The bow he had slung across his back framed his form where it made contact with the tree almost perfectly, with the back of the arrow quiver pushing against it slightly from where it was placed on his hip for quick a draw and fire.

The man sitting opposite him wore entirely light green attire over most of his form, excluding his head and hands. He had a rather bored look about him as he stared up into the leaves of a nearby tree, his short brown hair providing little protection from the sun that shined through directly onto his face. This didn't seem to bother him though as he wasn't even squinting. His hand held a wooden staff, which leaned up against the same tree he was sitting under. His gruff face suddenly twisted into a pondering look, his short brown beard rubbing briefly against the skin of his face.

"Hey, Ryoushi-kun, do you think I could use that tree?" he asked his fur wearing companion, pointing to the tree he had been looking at.

Ryoushi snorted. "How would I know what your requirements in a tree are, Kinome-san?"

Kinome brought his unoccupied hand up to his bearded chin in a thoughtful motion. "Hm…"

Suddenly, a third person jumped down to join them. "They'll be leaving in a few days," stated the obviously female voice. Her gear was more traditional than the other two, wearing the typical ninja vest and underclothes, though in a green color, revealing just enough to be appealing. Her black hair swung behind her in a pigtail, glistening slightly in the sun. Her amazingly tanned skin was the only thing that told that she spent the majority of her time in the outdoors.

Ryoushi snorted again. "What makes you so sure, Ibiru-san?"

Ibiru smirked. "Our employee practically guaranteed it."

"What did you-?" began Kinome before he thought better of it, "Oh, never mind. I don't wanna know."

The woman walked over and patted the sitting man's head. "Good boy. You're learning."

Ryoushi looked at the two, shaking his head. "Why do we send you in to do the negotiating again?"

The raven haired beauty gave him an amused glance before slowly striding over to him. "Because you two have spent too much time in the wild and have lost all of your charisma. I have to have enough to make up for what you two lack." She ran a hand over his jaw, watching as he rolled his eyes. "Aw, come on, you know you like it."

The archer pushed himself up from leaning on the tree and brushed past her, waving off the comment. "I might if I wouldn't have to share you."

Kinome grinned, rising from his seat. "That's why I like you, Ryoushi-kun." He went over and put a hand on Ibiru's hip, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "You're not one to get involved with another man's woman." He paused before adding as an afterthought, "And you did it in a smooth way, too…"

Ryoushi rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, well, just because she doesn't think I have any charisma, doesn't mean I don't. Keep in mind I had to negotiate my own missions before I met the two of you."

Ibiru smirked again. "Yeah, and those slips of the tongue you've had all-too-often just so happen to go along with that high charisma, don't they?"

Ryoushi flushed. "Give a guy a break, already. I'm just not used to concealing ulterior motives. If you hadn't noticed I'm a pretty straightforward guy, and my negotiations reflected that."

"And I'm sure you needed all that money you negotiated for to get all those prostitutes you've been with," the kunoichi teased, still not knowing exactly what he used the money on. He hadn't actually told them how he spent the money he made. After all, he made a perfectly good living out in the wild, hunting with his bow, eating meat and wild fruit. As far as they knew, he had done just that and not even touched a lick of what he had earned.

However, in response to this new accusation, Ryoushi merely brought his hand up to his forehead, shaking his head in pity.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Taka sighed, poking a stick at the fire in the center of camp. She glanced at the man opposite her, the man with a plate of ration food in front of him that hadn't been touched. It was probably cold by now. The man, himself, didn't seem overly rich in his dress, but he was clearly used to being spoiled. He wouldn't eat anything that didn't taste good to him, wouldn't do any sort of work, even for his own safety, and wouldn't even sleep in a tent, instead demanding a small cottage with a bed that lifted him off the floor.

Of course, they had told him that he couldn't have an actual cottage and that the best they could do was a hammock to keep him off the floor. Grumbling, the man had demanded they do as much as possible. Stupid governors…

Taka looked up at the sky exasperatedly. It was almost night, with clouds that made it even darker. She turned her gaze on their sensei in annoyance. Couldn't he get them a decent mission that _didn't_ involve greedy bastards? With an irritated frown, she thought back to when she had been told about this new mission.

0o0o0o0oFlashback no Jutsu0o0o0o0o

"_We what!?"_

"_He what!?"_

_The two cries came out simultaneously from Taka and Hari respectively. Shino stared at them with an annoyed look that no one could see behind his sunglasses. "Our mission was unsuccessful."_

"_B-but," stuttered Taka, "how could we have failed? We got rid of the opposing ninja!"_

_The bug user turned his attention to her, glad she had asked that question so he could lighten the blow of their failure. "I chose to return to Konoha before the allotted time. After we left, an untrained civilian, seemingly unattached to the shinobi we encountered, took the opportunity to snatch the document while it was unguarded."_

_Hari shook his head as if it still didn't make sense. "But why couldn't the people moving it, or preparing to move it, stop him? He was a civilian just like them!"_

"_He had minor training in the combat arts," replied Shino-sensei. "Possibly a former samurai gone rounin."_

_Taka cursed violently, walking over to kick the base of a tree. "Now we'll _never_ get another good mission!"_

_Hari scowled when he realized she was probably right. When their teacher spoke, it surprised the both of them._

"_Not necessarily. The Hokage was impressed with your reported performance against the Kiri team. Enough so that we're leaving on another C ranked mission in two days." He neglected to mention the fact that the one hiring them had somehow already heard of their surprising fighting skills and had requested them in particular, probably so that his payment would be reduced._

_His students stared at him in shock. "W-what?" asked Taka in disbelief._

_Shino ignored their actions. "You have tomorrow off. Meet at the gate at 0800 in two days." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke._

_Taka turned to stare at her companions. Then, she pumped her arm in the air with a cry of victory. "Hell yes!"_

0o0o0o0oEnd Flashback no Jutsu0o0o0o0o

She had long since lost that enthusiasm. She had discovered that escorting was little more than traveling with an extra add-on, while doing their best to compensate for the man's every whim. And it was only the end of the first day of a five day hike to the edge of Wind country.

At least the governor, named Hikaru, knew how to be quiet. They never did learn his individual name.

It was almost unusual how quiet he had been, considering that most government officials complained so loudly whenever they didn't get their way quick enough. Come to think of it, he hadn't really complained at all, just made demands and caved when they told them they could only do so much. It was like he was slightly afraid to talk, anxious being around so many ninja.

But that didn't make sense.

Sighing, she stood up, deciding her break was over. She looked over to find Hari already setting up his traps for the night. Well, she couldn't help him with that; she didn't have his kind of expertise in that department.

So, she turned toward where Katame was setting up the hammock for the governor. Taka walked over to help, grunting in disgust at the additional work they were being put through.

She knew one thing for sure: this was going to be one annoying trip.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari's eyes drooped as he stood guard outside the tents. It was getting close to Shino-sensei's watch, he could tell. His exhaustion made that clear to him. He shook his head, smacking his cheeks in an attempt to stay awake. Just a few more minutes and he could go to sleep safely.

He stood up and started walking a perimeter to keep his blood pumping. He was careful to avoid the nearby traps, trekking a circle around the tents.

It was at this point that he heard footsteps near the former campfire. He nearly jumped out of his skin. No _way_ had anyone gotten through all of his traps.

He silently stalked behind one of the tents. He peeked around one in an attempt to identify the attackers. To his surprise, it was only the governor they were guarding…

Walking toward the edge of camp, where all the traps were set up. Hari hissed, leaping out of hiding to intercept the man before he could get himself impaled. Upon hearing this, the man turned around, clearly startled and afraid.

Hari stopped and held out his hands so that he could see them. "It's alright. It's just me. I'm on watch." Hikaru still looked scared for a moment before taking a few deep breaths and forcing himself to calm down. Once his nerves were settled, he still looked a little awkward. "What are you doing?" Hari finally asked.

The man fidgeted. "I-I was just going to go over there to relieve myself," he said, pointing in the direction he was heading.

The genin shook his head. "You can't do that. I've set up traps everywhere outside of camp. You could trigger one and get yourself killed. "

Hikaru's eyes widened. "Oh."

Hari shook his head in pity. Frankly, he was surprised the governor hadn't wet himself when he had first scared him. "If you really need to go, just pee on the first tree behind your tent. No one will care, and you won't trigger any traps."

The man nodded and walked off in that direction, disappearing behind his tent. Hari sat down on the logs that surrounded the blackened fire pit, rubbing his forehead. There was no way he'd be getting to sleep now with all the adrenalin running through his system from that encounter.

He looked up when he heard Hikaru return, smiling at him before entering his tent. He shook his head. That couldn't be right. The man had only been gone twenty or so seconds, not nearly enough time to have relieved himself, especially if he really had to go. It didn't make sense.

Shino coming out of their tent brought his attention to the jounin, and Hari smiled. He'd tell his sensei and let him decide what was going on and what to do about it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Can we rest yet? My legs are killing me."

Taka groaned at Hikaru's continued complaints. The guy was such a wimp! It was only the second day of travel! At a _walk _no less. She wasn't even _starting_ to get tired. She was tempted to ask Shino-sensei to summon a swarm of insects to carry him, see how long he wanted to rest with those under him.

Alas, he was a client, and they couldn't torture him like that.

"Very well," conceded Shino's deep voice. "There is a river nearby. We shall clean up before we continue." The redhead perked up at this. At least she'd get the opportunity to feel like she looked good for a day or so, a luxury not common on these long trips. "The girls can go first."

Taka grinned at him. "Arigatou, sensei."

Taking Katame by the arm, she led them off towards the sound of running water.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari glanced at Shino, who nodded to him. Time to make his move.

He waited for the governor to sit down and close his eyes exhaustedly. Then, he leapt out of the clearing after his teammates, making sure to keep as silent as possible. If Hikaru asked, he was off patrolling the perimeter. And he would be once he got back.

Until then, he got to go and watch Katame and Taka bathe. Wait. No. He got to go _talk_ to them. He couldn't help it if he caught a glimpse of them without clothes on.

He stopped in the bushes on the edge of the river. He gaped at what he found.

Katame was already stripping her clothes off. Blood starting to pour through his mask as he took in the lovely scene before him. This wasn't just any girl; it was a member of his team! He would get to see what he had always fantasized about!

Just as she was getting to her underwear, Hari felt a cold point press against the back of his neck. He tensed. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now," the female behind him demanded in a voice he recognized.

He then realized that Taka wasn't next to Katame as she should be. She was behind him. He closed his eyes, crying out desperately. "Wait! Don't hurt me!"

"Why not, stupid pervert?"

"Because I was sent by Shino-sensei!"

The redhead paused. "Oh?"

"Yeah, to inform you about our plan!"

"Why couldn't he have told us himself?" She pressed the kunai further into his skin, barely not breaking the surface.

"The governor can't know about it! And it would be more believable if a genin were to patrol the surroundings than a jounin, who could just order the genin around."

"Good enough. Now, turn around and stop staring at Katame." She took the weapon away and put it up calmly.

Hari gulped and did as he was told, hoping against hope that Taka was naked.

She wasn't. She was fully clothed.

He almost groaned. He caught himself in time to save face with a question. "Since when do you use kunai?"

Taka shrugged. "I don't, really. I only carry a few. For you, it was just too much effort to use one of my jutsu."

He glared at her weakly. Not only had she stopped his peep-er-observations, but she then had to go and degrade him? He could very easily have gotten away from her before she could stab him.

He just hadn't particularly wanted the wrath of such a vicious woman upon him.

"Tell us about the plan, then." Hari blinked, turning on the third voice. His eyes went wide when he saw Katame standing next to him. Completely nude.

Blood rushed to his face and out his nose.

He fell back, unconscious from the blood loss.

Taka stared at Katame in disbelief. "How could you come over here without any clothes on?"

The blue haired girl raised an eyebrow. "And?"

The Koudoukou shook her head in pity. "Now we have to wait until he wakes up to get the info from him."

Katame looked down on him with a slight frown. "Hm. Tell me when he wakes up." With that, she walked back towards the river.

"Put some clothes on next time!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Taka grumbled as she set up the fire for the night's camp. Katame was putting their tent up, while Shino built his and Hari's using his bugs and Hari set to creating Hikaru's, hammock and all. They always had to do this for the night, but that didn't make it any less bothersome. Hikaru was off to the side, resting against a tree trunk.

Once she had a good fire going, she sat down and started cooking what little salted meat they had left into a soup, seeing as how the governor refused to eat anything they hunted. At least he was eating what they had now, despite it not tasting great.

It wasn't long before Shino joined her, sitting opposite her on the ground. She glanced up, and they nodded to each other. They were silent until Katame, and then Hari a minute later, joined them.

"Did you _have_ to make our tent with your kikai, Shino-sensei? Now, I won't be able to get to sleep tonight…"

Taka chuckled as Hikaru came over and sat between her and her male teammate. "I'm sure you'll manage, kid," the governor said exhaustedly. He laid back on the ground behind him. "I know I'm tired enough to sleep through anything."

Taka grinned at him, handing him the first bowl to pass around. "You get used to this sort of thing as a ninja."

He sat up to accept the bowl and pass it on the Shino. "Apparently. You all continue to work even while I rest."

Taka noted how he grabbed Hari's soup with both hands before giving it to him.

She scowled when she found the boy accepting it with his eyes glued to Katame's chest. The redhead scooped up a pebble and tossed it at him, nailing him in the forehead.

He flinched, spilling some of the soup, rubbing his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

She glared. "For being a pervert."

He had the courtesy to blush, though he argued just to be disagreeable. "I told you I didn't mean to come across you while I was running the perimeter!"

"You came while we were in a _river_, a rather noisy one at that. It should have been obvious!"

"Wait, wait," interrupted Hikaru. "You saw them _bathing_? And _survived_?"

Hari grinned. "Yeah, I'm just that good."

Taka threw another rock. "Yeah right. You're just lucky I was already dressed." It wasn't technically a lie. She had been dressed. She just hadn't taken her clothes off yet.

The masked genin blocked the pebble, laughing. "If you say so."

"Oh, shut up," retorted the redhead.

"Yes, mother." Hari grinned.

Taka threw another rock.

He rolled backward, evading it. He then hopped to his feet, dropping into a taijutsu stance. "Come on, is that all you've got?"

Taka smirked, putting down her bowl. She stood up and walked over to him. "You asked for it now."

With a shared grin, the two started a quick sparring match. It would be obvious to their teammate and sensei that they weren't putting forth much effort but not to the governor.

"How can they have so much energy left after traveling for so long?" Hikaru asked in disbelief.

"Actually, walking at this pace leaves us with a surplus of extra energy because we are accustomed to training to near exhaustion on most days. They are probably just expending that energy now, so they can sleep later."

Of course, it was all a lie. Though not necessarily exhausted, the day's constant walking had left their muscles a bit sore. Better to let the man think they would be well prepared for anything that came their way.

"You all are insane," stated the governor with slight reverence.

They watched the spar for a few minutes before Shino spoke. "I've been wondering, Hikaru-sama, why are you traveling alone? You should be escorted by a guard of your own samurai."

The governor rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I kinda hired some shinobi and snuck off to Konoha to get a little break from all the overly formal treatment. Hokage-sama allowed me to stay a few days as an ordinary citizen until I requested you for my trip back. Of course I had to do this alone, or I wouldn't have been a normal civilian, so I left a note telling my men that I was perfectly safe and to not bother following me." He paused and spoke the rest in a softer voice. "No doubt they disobeyed that order and continue to look for me now."

"Will we not be considered kidnappers by your men?" inquired Katame stoically.

"Oh no, just give me a few minutes to explain to them what happened, and everything should be just fine." He waved the concern off like it didn't matter at all.

He looked back at the sparring duo. "Now, how about we stop these two? Just watching them is making me more worn out." Then, to the pair. "Taka-san, Hari-san, why don't you come eat? Your food will get cold if you wait much longer."

Taka stopped and spun to the man, frowning. "I don't know. I could still use some extra exercise." She swung her arm in a wide circle to emphasize the statement.

Hikaru turned his attention to her. "Nonsense. You've had plenty of exercise for one day. Come. Eat. Settle down for the night. I'd prefer fully rested guards anyway."

Out of the corner of her eye, the girl caught Hari glance at Shino and Shino's responding nod.

She made an act of sighing in resignation. "Fine. If it'll make you feel better." She walked around him to sit in her original seat. She picked up her bowl and ate her now-cold soup. At least it was better than nothing, she told herself.

She saw Hari sit down as well, looking at the bowl suspiciously before doing the same as her.

Beside her, Katame stood up. "Fully rested guards sounds good. I shall retire for the night."

With that, she walked past Taka to the tent the two of them shared. The redhead noted how Hari watched her go, his gaze following the slight sway of her hips.

She threw another rock at him.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Stupid pervert."

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Hikaru waited until near midnight to walk out of his tent into the camp area.

He glanced at Hari's sleeping form on the ground near the burnt out fire and allowed himself a slight smirk. Apparently these ninja weren't as invulnerable as they thought if a simple civilian could slip a powder into their meal. The kid was just lucky the people that hired him wanted him alive.

The poison should have acted fast enough to prevent the brat from setting up any of his traps. He stepped toward the edge of camp with silent caution. Better safe than sorry.

After a couple feet without activating any hidden weapons, he assumed it was safe to leave. He took the first hundred yards or so as quietly as he could, trying to make sure the shinobi wouldn't hear him and wake up.

Then, he broke out into a run, relieved to finally be away from the group. He had done his job. Now, all he had left to do was meet up with his employers and collect his pay.

About five minutes later, three forms leapt out of the nearby trees, surrounding him. He jerked to a stop, gasping in shocked fear.

"Good job, Hikaru." He relaxed some at his female boss's voice. "You played your part well."

He let out a deep breath, trying to steady his heavy breathing. "Yes, yes. Good, good. I even managed to knock the trapper out with some poison. Now, about my payment-"

"I suggest you leave now," a different voice, male this time, interrupted.

"Oy! Not until I get my money!"

"Yeah, Ryoushi-kun, he does deserve his pay," interjected a second man.

"I never disputed that, Kinome-san. This is for his own safety. He should head north to the nearby settlement. We'll me him there after we're through."

"Hell no! You think I'm going to just let you walk off without paying me? Not in this lifetime!" declared Hikaru, almost yelling.

"What do you mean, Ryoushi-kun?" asked Kinome.

The disguised governor heard the woman who had originally hired him curse. Confused, he turned to her. "He was followed," she told Kinome.

A chill washed up Hikaru's spine. If that was true, not only had he been in danger the entire time he had been getting away, but he could expect maybe half the pay he would have gotten otherwise.

He joined the second man in cursing.

"Where at Ryoushi-kun?" demanded the woman.

Without question, the man on Hikaru's left went into motion, drawing something off his back and then pulling back on it. A second later, a light flashed in his hands and then went into motion. It darted into a tree, high up, in the direction he had come from.

"Alright, we see him now." The false governor didn't know what she was talking about; he couldn't see a thing except that bright white light. "Hikaru-kun, I suggest you start heading north toward that town we mentioned. We'll follow after we complete our mission. Ryoushi-kun, if you would please light the rest of this area up for Kin-kun, you can go ahead to the camp. Me and Kin-kun will take the jounin together."

In mere moments, the entire area became littered with bolts of light similar to the first. It illuminated much of the surroundings, including the jounin-sensei of the team that was supposed to be guarding Hikaru where he stood on one of the tree branches.

It was at this point that Hikaru turned and ran. He no longer cared about his pay. After a display like that, he just wanted to get out of there with his life.


	9. Wooden Battle Royal

((Alright, not-so-filler chapter #2, action style, begin!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would be dead by now. Sorry to you Sasuke fans. This applies to every chapter of this story, including the ones I forget to put disclaimers in.))

**Wooden Battle Royal**

Shino evaded the incoming bolts of light. Not that it was that hard, since they didn't seem to be aimed at him but merely at the surroundings in an effort to brighten the night. All the while, he kept an eye on the three ninja below him.

This was not good.

The one shooting the arrows-or so they seemed to be-using some sort of bow was clearly average chuunin level. The way he shot his bolts of light implied a focus on skill and ranged fighting.

He hadn't seen the other two act yet, but from the way they carried themselves, he judged them to be about on the same level, maybe special jounin at most.

If any of them got to his genin, the children would have a rough time of it.

"Be sure to keep them alive, Ryoushi-kun!" shouted the female as the bow-user darted along the forest floor toward the camp.

Shino moved to intercept.

He noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes and pulled up short, dodging the senbon in the process.

"I told you me and Kinome-kun are going to be fighting you, jounin-san. If you want to help your kids, you'll have to defeat us first."

The Aburame's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. He flicked two kunai at the woman and darted again after Ryoushi.

"Doton: Tossakasei no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Instant Growth Jutsu)

Shino leapt back, avoiding the sudden growth of plant life. The vine was almost instantly five feet tall with a sharp point at the end, even shifting its growth so that it faced mostly toward the jounin. He looked back over his shoulder to see the other male enemy, who was shaking his head.

"Tsk, tsk, Leaf ninja. You aren't getting away from us."

The Aburame turned to face them, resigned to finish this fight before aiding his genin.

The woman grinned at her partner. "Looks like he's decided to show us what he's got."

The man smirked back. "Shall we do the same, Ibiru-chan?"

"Sounds good!"

Ibiru threw some more senbon almost lazily. Shino dodged them just as easily, hopping into some nearby bushes.

"Doton: Otoshiana Kuma no Jutsu" (Earth Release: Bear Trap Vines Jutsu)

The Konoha jounin didn't know when he'd found the time to set up the trap, but just as he entered the bushes, a set of giant pincer-like vines snapped up, attempting to cut him in half at the waist. He used a quick substitution to replace himself with a log, disappearing into the darkness above the area lit by the enlightened arrows.

Instantly, Shino was working on a battle plan to achieve victory as quickly as possible. He set his gourd on one of the nearby branches, then propelled himself toward the perimeter.

Below him, the pair had struck up a conversation. "Seems like he vanished on us. Think he went off to help his genin?" asked Ibiru

Kinome shook his head. "I doubt it. It would be smarter for him to take care of the two of us here before we get close to the runts, if he can."

"So what would you say he's up to?"

"Probably setting up an attack plan. He'll want to try to kill us quickly."

Shino shook his head. He could recognize psychological warfare easily enough. They were telling him that they knew his plan in the most simplistic of senses, perhaps hoping he would switch tactics. He continued on his route around the edge of the light, careful to keep out of sight. It wouldn't work on him. Even if they did suspect something was coming, he doubted they could escape it. He would proceed with his plan.

Even better, it actually made them more likely to misjudge his actions.

He just wanted to end this soon. He wouldn't let his students be in danger if he could help it.

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Ryoushi leapt between trees, making a conscious effort to remain silent. If he could catch the group while they were still asleep, he could use some knockout poison, given to him by Ibiru, to keep them that way.

It was unfortunate that he doubted they were actually asleep. If the jounin knew enough to follow their hired "governor", then the rest of the group probably understood that they couldn't let themselves go to the realm of dreams.

The man pulled out his bow as he neared the campsite. Better to be safe than sorry.

He paused on a branch near the perimeter of the encampment, scanning the area. Everything seemed…peaceful. Everything was quiet. There was even the boy, unconscious, in the middle, apparently under the effects of a drug.

It looked like the jounin really _had_ left without telling his genin anything about it.

Ryoushi hopped down quietly next to the odd-looking green haired boy. Cautiously, he reached out to feel for a pulse. When his hand reached the boy, it kept going as if through pure air as the boy poofed into a cloud of smoke.

"_Clone!"_

As he pulled back, he felt his hand catch a small wire and drag it with him.

He immediately jumped back, watching as kunai flew through the air that he had previously occupied. He cursed at having fallen for such stupid trap, turning to face the enemies that were coming out of their tent.

Both of the girls stepped out, each fully clothed as if they had been waiting for something to happen. Ryoushi scowled. That made things a whole lot more complicated.

"Where's your third team member?" he asked, noting the absence of the male genin.

The redhead, Taka if he remembered from the mission report correctly, glowered at him. "None of your business.

The missing nin smirked. "Well, obviously you're not as incompetent as Hikaru thought you were if you could detect and neutralize the poison he used. The boy even managed to copy the effects. Care to tell how?"

Taka rolled her eyes. "Shino-sensei looked through his stuff while he wasn't paying attention, found and identified the toxin, and then told Hari how to mimic the effects. Then, it was a simple matter to distract Hikaru during dinner so that Shino-sensei could extract the poison from Hari's food."

Ryoushi raised an eyebrow. "Not bad," he said appraisingly. "Certainly better than I expected, even with the jounin. Only problem now is that you're all alone with no one to protect you."

Smiling darkly, he pulled his bow from his back and grabbed an arrow that had a special tag wrapped around its middle for just such occasions. He armed the bow, drew the string, and fired all in one swift motion.

The redhead rolled immediately out of harm's way, seeing no reason to tempt fate, while her teammate leaned out of the way, putting as little effort as possible into the action. Ryoushi smirked again, bringing his hands together into a sign. Suddenly, the tag on the arrow lit and, moments later, was caught up in concealing smoke. A large net burst towards the blue haired kunoichi.

The girl's eyes widened, jumping slightly to the side out of sheer reflexes, only to have the majority of her body caught in the restraining wires. She flew back a short distance before colliding with the earth and dissolving into a cloud of sakura petals. Another clone.

He scowled. So this wouldn't be as easy as he had originally thought. No matter…He smiled menacingly. All the more fun to be had.

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Kinome glanced around him, scanning for the Konoha jounin. Clearly, he was setting up an elaborate trap because he had remained hidden for nearly a minute. Beside him, Ibiru was tensed, ready to spring in any direction, should the situation dictate it.

It was at this point that the plant user wished he knew more about this jounin. He had only been given minimal information about the group and told to 'capture the genin'. As of now, he had no clue what type of attack to look out for. Konoha was known as overly kind for their open-mindedness almost as much as their wish to restrain from killing, even enemies if possible. Thus, this jounin could be good at just about anything.

His attention was brought back to the forest by the chittering of what sounded like an army of flying insects. Kinome scowled. He'd read about a clan in the Leaf Village that used bugs. Aburane, he thought they were called. That certainly made things more complicated for them. Instead of the two on one they had assumed they had, it was probably more like two to one thousand.

The noise became louder as the swarm of insects finally came into the light, showing their opponents their massive numbers. The plant user scowled. He looked at his ally.

"Ibiru-chan, mist!" he commanded, starting a set of hand seals.

"Hai!" she replied, joining him in the motions with a separate set of seals.

As the bugs closed in, Kinome heard a soft clunk above them. Before he could even look up, the large gourd that had previously been on the jounin's back fell next to them, stopping about a foot above the ground with a jerk as the cork in it was yanked out by some attached wire. His eyes widened as the gourd dropped the remaining distance to the forest floor, the insects within already bursting towards them.

"Shit!" Then, to his relief, he heard Ibiru finish the hand signs next to him.

"Ninpou: Enmu Yuudoku no Jutsu!" (Ninja Art: Toxic Mist Jutsu)

The wonderful woman blew out a giant breath, watching it turn to a dark blue hue in mid-air, enveloping the surrounding area, them included. Kinome took a deep breath just before the jutsu reached him and held it, continuing with his own jutsu.

The nearest bugs began to fall down dead, causing the rest of the swarm to retreat from the dangerous gas. Clearly, even the systems of insects were vulnerable to this form of gaseous death.

With a few last seals, Kinome used the jutsu that would get them out of the mist before they could inhale any of it themselves.

"Doton: Baindo Kongen no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Root Binding Jutsu)

A set of roots darted out of the ground and snatched the two missing nin, pulling them under the earth. Here, they couldn't breathe in the toxic fumes; heck, here, they couldn't even breathe at all.

A few seconds later, they were brought back to the surface near the edge of the lit area. The jutsu was technically meant to drag people underground and keep them there, but Kinome could manipulate it to move them away from the poisonous air.

As soon as he took his first gasp of air, he was looking around for his opponent. There didn't seem to be any sign of him nearby, even his bugs were gone. He glanced at where the gourd had last been; it was gone.

He cursed, grabbing Ibiru and starting towards the encampment. The woman hesitantly began running with him, confusion written on her face.

"Kinome-kun, where are we going? Aren't we fighting the jounin?"

"We were," he responded, emphasizing the past participle. "He's already gone back towards his genin. I'm not sure what he's thinking it'll do, but it seems like he's realized he can't beat us like that."

"Well, crap. What're we waiting for then? Let's get going!" She picked up her pace so that she was ahead of him. He cursed under his breath, matching her speed so she wouldn't get any farther away. Sometimes he hated her eagerness. He didn't want to waste energy or get reckless with this pursuit.

Too bad he knew she wouldn't care.

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Taka immediately activated her Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rat) as she stood from her roll. Realizing he was highly skilled in ranged fighting, she decided it would be best to quickly test his hand-to-hand combat. She rushed forward, not waiting to see if Katame was hit, for that seemed unlikely.

However, her new opponent didn't give her the time to come anywhere near him as he pulled out another arrow and fired it in quick succession. This forced her to leap to the side in order to evade the projectile. She landed and glared at her adversary. She had no doubt that he was going easy-_really_ easy.

"I don't suppose your little friend would like to come out so I could play with the both of you at the same time?" he asked in hopes of a positive response.

Taka merely grunted. So she wouldn't be able to even get close enough to use taijutsu. A new tactic was in order. She only needed to stall him while she thought.

"Aw, that's too bad. It'll be much too easy with only the one. I won't even have to try." He frowned at this. He apparently liked challenge.

"Just wait a little while for my sensei. I'm sure he'll give you all the troubles you could ever desire." As she said this, her mind was working at a million miles a minute on a new strategy.

"_Taijutsu doesn't work…I don't know the clan's ninjutsu yet…Now, what can I do with genjutsu?...There are traps around here, right? All I have to do is find them and lead him into them. Problem is going to be finding them…"_

"I suppose that's probably true. Then again, my partners are no doubt taking care of him as we speak. Besides, this way, I get to accomplish the mission without breaking a sweat."

Taka scanned the forest floor behind the man, completely ignoring everything he said. She quickly found what she was looking for in two wires strung between tree trunks a few feet behind him at odd angles to make them easily visible. Of course, this was a ruse. The traps that were meant to capture intruders were stationed around them so that it would be near impossible to avoid the originals without tripping another one. She couldn't actually see them, but she knew Hari, and she knew he would set up something like that.

She smirked as she looked back up at the invader.

"Alright then…Let's see if I can keep you entertained." She brought her hands into a single hand sign.

"Yamazaru Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Monkey of the Zodiac Jutsu)

She felt a surge of power flow through her. It spread through her limbs, giving her more strength and speed than she knew she had. She felt as if she could take on any opponent and come out on top without a problem.

This was, however, an illusion.

She knew this, of course, but it was still the reason she always ended up disoriented after using it. She couldn't help feeling 'in character' so to speak. It made her feel invincible, and she liked it.

There were other problems with the technique as well. For example, it only worked on one person. Any more and it was pretty well useless. In fact, she had to stay still in order to keep the jutsu active, so it was more of a death sentence in group fighting.

Still, currently, it was her best bet at coming out on top in most melees.

Taka's illusory self disappeared with the speed of a Shunshin, appearing just short of her opponent. She swung with an uppercut at a speed she knew he would be able to dodge.

And dodge he did, leaning back just enough to avoid the impact. As he did so, he brought his bow around in an effort to strike her solidly across the torso.

She jumped back lightly, making sure he didn't connect with her false flesh and see through the genjutsu. Yet, her foe's feet had remained stationary, unmoved by her attack. He had merely avoided what he had to and no more.

"_Damn…He must realize there are traps behind him…"_ she thought in failure.

The man's eyes narrowed as he stared at the redhead in front of him. Apparently she had been too obvious with her drastic increase in speed for he brought his own hands up into a single hand sign.

"Kai!" (Release)

Taka gasped as she fell to her hands and knees with her head swirling. She hated when the other person broke the technique…She was never ready for it. She looked up with a snarl on her face, finding the nukenin with a smirk on his visage.

"You _can_ entertain me," he mocked, looking down at her as if she was inferior, "but that's all it is. Entertainment. Do you have anything else up your sleeves? Or should I just capture you now and get it out of the way?"

The redhead growled furiously, forcing herself to her feet through her own instability.

Suddenly, Katame appeared behind the intruder via Shunshin with her blade already drawn. The man turned his head briefly with wide eyes as she swept her wakizashi horizontally, cutting through his weak fur armor easily.

Taka's eyes widened. Was it really that easy?

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Kinome scowled as he tried to keep up with Ibiru, all the while eyeing his surroundings. He always had been slower than her, if not by much, and trying to do what she obviously wasn't at the same time only made that more difficult.

Not long into the chase, the plant user noted a flash not far in front of his companion. "Look ou-" His warning was too late as she landed on the tripwire, setting off a large explosion. Kinome had to leap to the side so his momentum wouldn't carry him into the blast. He stared at the resulting flames with wide eyes. "Ibiru!"

At that moment, the back of his foot caught on another wire, sending him into a slow back flip. He didn't even made it halfway before he landed hard on his back.

Grunting, he immediately vaulted to a standing position, only to find that the wire had managed to wrap itself around his feet. Unable to maintain his balance, he fell forward onto his face, catching himself before he actually hit.

It was then that he felt a weight on his back that held him there while another wire trap quickly wrapped around him, pinning his hands where they were. "Oh, look what I found," bragged the boy standing over him, literally, "And to think that first wire you tripped on was going to be a different trap." The plant user grunted as he tried in vain to break the wiring that held him to the dirt. "I guess I'm glad you made it go off before I was able to switch it around."

Kinome growled as he looked over his shoulder at the genin that had managed to catch him in a trap, or perhaps even multiple ones. "You'll be sorry for this, brat!"

"Oh, contraire. You will be when we take you back to Konoha and let our interrogation corps. have their way with you." The nukenin growled again in fury, using all his strength to try to break the string, only to feel them starting to cut into his flesh. "There's no point doing it like that, you know. It's high quality tripwire, practically guaranteed not to break from anything of human strength."

The boy stepped off of him once he felt sure that he was secure enough that he couldn't get away and knelt down so that he was face to face with the captured man. "There's a reason they leave me as first watch during the night, you know. I like traps. It's that simple. And not just any traps, traps that try to catch and contain their prey so that when we find it, we can question it. Thing is, I usually set up a few explosive ones to both get our attention should things go south and to push the trespassers in the right direction. It's really quite fun once you get the hand of it." He finished with a wide grin.

Kinome was ignoring him, looking back at the direction Ibiru had been in. _"Damn it! Why couldn't you have slowed down a little, you impatient idiot?!"_ he thought angrily, _"If you'd have given me the time I would've seen this crap coming and been able to avoid it completely! Stupid bitch."_

"Well, I should probably go check on my team," stated the genin matter-of-factly, "I'll be back with my teammates to pick you up in a few." He gave a short wave and jumped back towards the encampment.

"Foolish punk," Kinome snorted, "I won't be here that long." He wriggled his arm so that his palm laid flat against the ground. Then, he focused chakra through his hand and into the plants that grew nearby. They slowly started to grow towards him. He grinned. He wasn't known as a plant user for nothing.

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Shino spun in the air between trees at the sound of an explosion, having been darting back toward the camp. He knew they would follow him and decided to take advantage of the traps he knew Hari had set. It had merely been a matter of time until they ran into one.

As he landed on the next tree branch, he redirected his momentum back where he had come from. Hopefully, that would have disabled one of them or at least distracted them long enough for him to put one down for the count.

Within a few seconds he was staring across at the back of the female of the group, who was staring at her hand in shock. Clearly she had noticed him because when he sent his bugs up to silently drain her of her chakra, she hopped down to the forest floor, still looking away from him. He followed her down since his bugs would have an easier time traveling along the ground anyway.

"Who set up those traps?" the woman, Ibiru, he thought her name was.

"My student, Hari-kun."

"You better pray you can kill me now," started the woman, anger evident in her voice, "Because when I find him…" She turned around to reveal a face that was half burned by the explosions. "I'm gonna kill him!" Her face contorted in fury as she spun around, showing that her entire left side had been caught in one of the blasts, making it practically useless. She barely managed to stand as it was.

Shino narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses.

The kunoichi hopped off the branch, landing a short distance in front of the bug user. Her angry face rose to glare at him fiercely, seeing the rebellion even through his glasses. "Let's see you stop me then." She pulled out three senbon and threw them lazily at her opponent.

The jounin quickly ducked under them and began a rush forward. The woman stood there as he approached, waiting for the opportune moment. Shino swung at her weakened left side, planning to take advantage of the lack of defense. Not surprisingly, she ducked out of the way, but he _was _surprised when she brought up a kunai as his arm went over her, creating a small cut in his forearm.

He jumped back, not wanting to bring about any farther injury to himself. The woman smirked at him, holding the kunai in front of her by her forefinger and thumb with the blade end pointed down. "It's over," she claimed, watching as blood, along with a different, green liquid merged and dropped from the point of her weapon, "You're poisoned."

Shino mentally scolded himself for letting his defenses drop at all, even against such a crippled opponent, as he stated, "You're correct…It is over." The smirk on his opponent's face fell, replaced by a confused look.

Then, she felt something crawling up her legs. She looked down to find a horde of kikai bugs swarming up her limbs, already beginning to chow down on her chakra. Immediately, she began to panic.

"What? No! How? Argh!" She fell back, scrambling to get away from the bugs, unable to form the hand seals for another poison mist due to her limp arm. It wasn't long before they engulfed her as she released one final scream.

Shino frowned to himself as he walked over to collect his bugs from the unconscious woman. She would be out for a while, yes, but she had already poisoned him. He brought his arm up to his mouth and began sucking blood from the wound in an effort to at least weaken the effects on him. Past that, he would have to rely on his insects to get the toxin out of his system as soon as possible. He spat what he could get from the cut out on the ground. Then, he turned back to the camp.

He still had genin to protect, even if he did have unknown venom running through his body.

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Taka scowled as the form of their opponent disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log that was instantly cut in half. The redhead hopped forward to join Katame and with silent consent, the two turned back-to-back.

"See where he went to?" whispered Taka.

The blue haired girl shook her head, using the motion to scan the surroundings quickly. "No. He was too quick."

"Well, crap." They were still for a moment, assessing their situation. Then, they heard two soft 'Thunk's on either side of them.

Katame wasted no time leaping out of the way. Taka was a bit slower with the action and paid for it as she felt her foot suddenly go numb. She landed awkwardly, finding it difficult to balance without feeling what she was standing on. She cursed under her breath, dropping to one knee.

She looked up when she heard chuckling. She glared at the form that was no doubt her enemy. "What the hell did you do?" she demanded furiously.

He stepped close enough for her to see the smirk on his face in the dim moonlight. "A simple lightning jutsu that sends electrical waves through your body, temporarily disrupting most of the nerves in the affected areas." He paused and grinned. "It's useful being able to seal some of the weaker jutsu into arrows, don't you think?"

She hissed, lashing out at him. He merely chuckled again, hopping out of her stumbling reach. She pushed herself back to her feet just in time to see Katame appear behind him once more out of a Shunshin. Their foe substituted before she even began her swing this time, appearing just a few feet behind her this time, arrow already cocked in his bow.

"Won't work a second time, either." Without giving her any time to recover, he loosed the arrow, sending it into her stomach, not lethal but hopefully disabling. His eyes widened when he felt another presence behind him. He caught the arrow make contact with the girl, only for her to burst into a flurry of sakura petals, out of the corner of his eye, already moving into another substitution.

Katame felt the blade of her wakizashi bite into a small bit of flesh before the Kawarimi could be fully implemented and almost smiled. _Almost_.

The genjutsu user then heard the swooshing of more arrows flying through the air. Before she could even move into a dodge she heard a clank directly behind her. She immediately spun around, finding her sensei with a kunai in hand and shattered arrow at his feet, heaving for air desperately. Shino glanced at her as she gave him a worried look.

"I have venom coursing through my veins," he answered her unasked question, "My kikai bugs are taking care of it, but I will be near useless for the time being."

Katame nodded. "We will distract him until you are strong enough to face him yourself." She turned toward her opponent, who now stood in a tree not far away, ready to rush at him, noting how Hari had appeared next to Taka to defend her. Knowing that he was best at ranged melee made close-quarters her best option.

But Shino's hand caught her by the arm. He held another hand in front of her and slowly opened it to reveal one of his female insects. "Take this. Place it on him somewhere that he won't detect it, and I will send some of my bugs to drain his chakra."

Katame nodded again, reaching out and taking the beetle-like creature into her palm. She glanced at the sounds of combat to find their adversary being chased down by a slightly fumbling Taka with Hari positioning himself to continue the assault, if his teammate should get knocked back, a short distance away.

"You stay here and get rid of the poison in you," she commanded without looking away from the fighting. "We will, in the least, stall him until you are ready."

Shino nodded in acquiescence and let go of her arm. The blue haired kunoichi raced off to join in the constant short-range combat that was this man's weakest point.

The bug user sighed to himself, feeling his kikai bugs running around inside of him in effort to clear him of all intoxicating substances. _"Good luck, you three."_

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Ryoushi growled in frustration as he was assaulted with a kunai by the male genin that had been last to arrive. This was getting irritating and fast. He wasn't good enough at hand-to-hand combat to take out each genin faster than they could get back up. He could defeat them, yes, but there always seemed to be another to take its place. The annoyance was quickly pissing him off.

How they could all four be here, he did not know. His only thought was that the jounin sensei had managed to disable his two allies. Nonetheless, he was now in this alone and he had to do something to get these genin out of the way as quickly as possible, without killing them, too, as it was their mission to capture them alive.

He sidestepped a vertical kunai slash and whipped around, bringing his wooden bow to knock the green haired boy away. The hit connected, and, with a grunt, the young shinobi was sent to skid to a stop on his back.

Ryoushi had no time to watch him get back up, however, as the redhead was in his face once more. He scowled at their persistence before sweeping the legs out from under the girl and planting a heavy kick on the center of her stomach as she started to fall sideways, sending her to join her comrade.

Satisfied he had created time to arm himself, the hunter withdrew an arrow and prepared to fire, only to have the projectile chopped in half in while still drawn back.

He ducked with an angry snarl as the blue haired genin began chasing him as her teammates had been just moments before. It was then that he came to a conclusive decision.

He had to do something to get rid of at least one of these midgets ASAP. He knocked the genjutsu user to the side with a powerful backhanded punch, only to be joined once more by the redheaded genin. He decided now was his best chance as he dodged two punches.

Ryoushi quickly thrust his leg into her sternum at the first opportunity, knocking her back into a nearby tree trunk. Then, before he could be joined by another pest, he pulled out and strung an arrow in one lightning fast motion, his face breaking into a slight grin. He wasn't surprised when the boy of the group Shunshined his way in front of him, which only caused the hunter's grin to widen as he released the arrow headed straight for two victims.

It was all the male shinobi could do to limbo backwards and dodge so that the weapon just grazed his shoulder, not even breaking through his shirt. However, an instant later, a scream of pain erupted from behind him, causing him to spin around in horror.

"Taka!"

Ryoushi took advantage of his distraction to grab another arrow and fire it directly into his right calf muscle. He watched as the poor genin yelled out as the electricity that he had implanted in the arrow surged through him, soon rendering him a limp form on the ground.

The archer smirked. Two shocked unconscious by his electric arrows. His abilities may require preparation before combat, but they were incapacitating with only a slight puncture once the weapons were infused with his chakra. He had only to decide which type of element to put into each arrow before forming it.

Only one genin to go before he could target the immobile sensei. He looked around in search of his next pincushion.

"Kage Moudou no Jutsu!" (Shadow Blindness Jutsu)

He gasped as his world was enveloped in darkness. He knew the voice had come from his other opponent, so it couldn't be too strong a technique, but the one thing he was truly scared of was losing his sight. He _could_ function without his eyes, but that was under a controlled circumstance.

Here, he cried out in terror, lashing out at anything he thought was nearby. His breaths became ragged, his brain ceased to function properly, and his muscles started going into random spasms.

It was when he lashed out and punched a tree that pain overtook the fear temporarily, and he was able to think rationally for a short while.

"_It's just a jutsu. If I can get far enough away, it'll lose its effect!"_

Maybe that thought pattern wasn't quite as rational as he thought. He quickly started running in a random direction, hoping it was away from the campsite. Almost immediately, he connected headfirst with a tree, which knocked him to his rear, activating a trap that unleashed a net that trapped him in place, followed by a heavy log swinging down from a branch and nailing him in the head.

Released from the genjutsu, he lay there in peace, out cold.

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Katame landed next to Shino quietly. "That worked better than expected…"

The bug user nodded with a look of worry on his face. He doubted his students had done any worse than fallen unconscious, but he was their teacher, and he would be troubled until he knew this to be true. He brought his hand up in front of his face and started flexing it, testing against the poison. Paralysis, he had deduced. His bugs had done their job well; he had no more difficulty than he would with only a slight wound in his arm. The venom was gone from his system, or at least deluded enough for him to move effectively.

He stood up and started toward his other two disciples in a slight hurry. He kneeled down next to Hari's body, motioning for Katame to check up on Taka. He put his finger under the genin's chin with his other hand gripping his wrist. He released the breath he hadn't noticed he was holding as he found a pulse at both locations.

He glanced up to find Katame giving him a satisfactory nod, telling him that the redhead was alright. Shino stood up, highly relieved, and slung Hari's form over his shoulder, preparing to carry him the short distance back to camp. Katame did the same with Taka and walked over to stand by her sensei's side.

As they started walking back toward the camp, the Aburame suddenly felt a strong chakra presence nearby.

"Doton: Tossakasei no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Instant Growth Jutsu)

The jounin leapt out of the way with Katame attempting to follow suit, only to be impaled by a plant stem that grew instantaneously. She stared in shocked silence as the green substance latched onto her leg and reached up, plunging into her stomach and out the other side, causing immeasurable amounts of pain. The leaf-less plant grew into a point behind her as it curved upward threateningly.

Without thinking, she dropped Taka beside her, away from the damaging plant.

Shino quickly scanned the area for enemies, finding the man he had faced earlier standing on the ground already going through another set of hand signs.

"Doton: Buinki no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Staff Treant Jutsu)

The raven haired man slammed the butt of his staff against the ground, causing a weak tremor. Before Shino could act, the wooden pole began to grow at an incredibly fast rate. In almost no time at all, it was the size and shape of a thirty foot tree.

The bug user stepped back, placing Hari softly on the ground at the base of a tree, and analyzed the jutsu, unsure of what it did and ready to dodge at any moment. It grew a tree…He began going through jutsus that could require a tree that he knew of, stepping away from his student. Very few came to mind. It especially didn't make sense because they had trees all around them.

He was startled when the 'tree' swung a giant branch at him. He quickly used a substitution to avoid the blow, the unfortunate swarm of bugs that replaced him getting dispersed immediately by the heavy hit.

The Konoha jounin stayed where he was now hidden, reanalyzing the situation. So, he had summoned a _moving_ tree. _"This could get complicated,"_ he thought, wracking his brain to come up with a strategy to defeat the behemoth.

The plant user took this opportunity to speak, "What have you done with Ibiru-chan?" Shino noticed that the man, Kinome, could plainly see the body of his other ally, so there was no point in asking what had become of him.

The bug user kept hidden, choosing not to speak yet. Unfortunately, this wasn't the best idea for Katame's sake as the plant piercing her abdomen grew towards her head threateningly.

"Where is she!?"

Shino mentally cursed his luck. He couldn't give away the lives of his allies, much less his students, something he had learned from one Uzumaki Naruto a while back. Despite how he held true to that lesson, it still didn't help his chances any.

His eyebrows furrowed as he gave away his position. "She's unconscious a short distance from camp." He wasn't all that surprised when a thick branch broke through the trunk he had been hiding behind. He jumped back, starting on a long set of hand signs.

He landed and rushed forward. He had to be close for this solution to work, which would be difficult since his hands were already distracted by the coming jutsu; he would be unable to block. He sidestepped limbs as they hurtled down to crush him into the dirt, jumped over the low sweeps, and ducked under the heavy branch swings, all while running through a set of hand signs. Then, suddenly, a tree root shot up from out of the ground and launched Shino high into the air…

Where he disintegrated into a mass of bugs.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Mushisoeki!" (Summoning Jutsu: Bug Plague)

The plant user spun around where he stood in his jutsu created treant to see a large smoke cloud where the base of his tree had been. He couldn't see a thing as he had his weapon lash out into the area, hoping to hit a target by sheer luck.

Then, an army of various insects began climbing out of the smoke towards the nukenin, biting at the tree as they went. His weapon began thrashing wildly, whether it was in pain or not, he could not be sure, but he _was_ sure that it was no longer safe to be near the monstrosity that he had created.

He leapt down, landing near the unconscious form of his male teammate. Shino landed a few steps away shortly afterwards. He wasted no time in making a demand.

"Surrender now or be eaten alive."

The foe put on a smug face, making a soft 'ch' sound. "Give up? Why, when I can simply outrun your infestation?"

"Out run them to where?"

This caused the plant user to look around. His mouth dropped open when he found he was surrounded on all sides by bugs of all types, including behind the bug user and above him, where a swarm flew, awaiting a meal. He grimaced when he realized there was no escape.

"Surrender."

A fire burst into the invader's eyes as he stared down his soon-to-be captor. "No!" Shino started to allow his insects to swarm his adversary, but his enemy's next words stopped him mid-action. "Call them off now, or she dies!" The missing nin pointed at the genin, who had a heavy cringe on her face, that he still had hanging in the air by his first jutsu.

Shino's bugs stopped momentarily until he realized something that his adversary apparently didn't know. The jounin sensei stared back at the missing nin with defiance hidden behind his sunglasses. "No."

The black haired man gaped at him as the bugs closed in on him. Finally, he collected himself just as the critters were merging on him to take what was left of him to oblivion. "I'm not going alone!"

With one last hoorah, he activated more of his jutsu and caused the plant to grow farther along its end through the back of Katame's head and out her mouth. A loud 'pop' was heard as the Katame clone burst into a cloud of sakura petals.

The nukenin screamed as the last of his strength was drained away by the bugs, not knowing that his last ditch attempt at a double-sacrifice had failed.

Once he was sure the man was dead, Shino called back his kikai bugs and allowed the summoned creatures to vanish in a puff of smoke. Then, he followed the senses of his male insects to the female he had left in Katame's hands for the first opponent.

He found her sitting against the same tree he had left Hari under with a gaping hole in her stomach. She looked up at him, breathing heavily, letting only a single word escape her lips.

"Ouch…"

Shino smiled behind his collar as he poured some of his bugs out on her to let them help clot the overflow of blood.

All four of them would live through this.

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((Ending notes again! I thought I should give warning to the fact that soccer has started so my writing time may be reduced until school starts again, at which point I will be doing my writing there.

Also, since there were no specific votes that came in, I am going to be the deciding vote and my vote goes to accepting second characters from those who have already submitted one. Now, if you have done so and would like to put another one in this story, feel free to fill out another form from the prologue and give me another character to work with. I would greatly appreciate it if you do.

I apologize for it being a week later than promised, but I wasn't satisfied with the original version of it, which _was_ ready on time. It just seemed…off. So, I took this week to go back and fix it and am now much happier with how it turned out.

I'm not sure if Shino already has a summon or not, but I didn't think so and the bug plague idea just seemed to fit him. Tell me if you have any contradictory info.

**Edit:** Okay, so this was a major overhaul of the original chapter. I went back and made the plotline behind this chapter and the one before it more realistic, in my opinion anyway. None of the important details changed but I am much, _much_ more satisfied with the result than I was with the first post.

SSF out.))


	10. Enter the Storm

((I'm really sorry this is so late, but I now have an extremely busy schedule with school, not to mention the small bout of writer's block I ran into

((I'm really sorry this is so late, but I now have an extremely busy schedule with school, not to mention the small bout of writer's block I ran into. Heck, this was so late that I'm not even waiting for next week, even though I missed Friday this week, to post this chapter. I'm posting it on a Saturday. That's how badly I want to post this already.

I'm going to have to redesign my self-schedule of an update every two weeks cause there's no way that's going to work now. I'll try to get chapters out every three weeks, but it'll probably be more like once a month. I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do about school being busier than last year.

Anyway…I'm not entirely sure, but I think this chapter may be a bit shorter than my previous few. Then again, I may be entirely wrong and this is the longest chapter I've written so far…I don't really know.

Enough of my excuses and ramblings. On with the story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, got it? I would be more creative with this, but I just don't feel like it right now.

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**Enter the Storm**

Ryoushi groaned as he slowly started to come to. His head felt like it had been run over by a steamroller. The light filtering through his eyelids didn't help any. He scrunched them shut tighter in an attempt to lessen the pain.

It didn't help.

Then, he heard a voice above him. He couldn't make out any words through his pain hampered brain, but he did recognize the voice.

Then, another voice, this one a little clearer, but the words still indistinguishable.

It was as the first voice spoke again that the nukenin realized that he was being dragged on his back via a makeshift stretcher.

…With added restraints.

His eyes shot open, only to be met with the painful sight of the sun, causing him to wince and revert back to squinting.

"Ah, so you're awake, huh?" asked a young male voice near his feet.

Ryoushi silently cursed himself for having the lack of presence of mind to act unconscious until he had a chance to escape. As of now, that chance of escape was greatly reduced.

He forced his eyes open to look at the short form at the bottom of his legs.

"I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever be able to ask if the numbness in my leg will go away."

The nukenin scowled. It was the male genin from before. So, he had been captured after all…But how? He remembered shooting the boy in the leg and then…blank.

He cursed under his breath as he struggled against his restraints. "Let me go, damn it!"

He heard the first voice laugh at this. He looked up to see a head of red hair, no doubt belonging to the first genin he had shot. "Not likely, Obaa-san. (Old manunsure about this one)" The girl turned her head to see her teammate out of the corner of her eye. "You can drop the back now, Hari. If he doesn't want his feet to drag, he can bend his knees."

Without a second's hesitation, Hari let go of his end of the stretcher and picked up pace until he was in step with the redhead. Ryoushi grunted irritably as his heels bounced off the hard dirt, nearly knocking his sandals off. He bent his knees as far as he could in his restraints, just managing to get them off the ground.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take him, Taka?" inquired the masked genin of his ally.

Taka gave him a mild glare. "Just because I was shot through the shoulder doesn't mean I'm helpless," she said heatedly. "Besides, your leg is just as bad as my arm."

Hari just shrugged at this statement. "I can't even feel it, so…"

The Koudoukou raised an eyebrow at this. "Well, if you're feeling useless, you can always go help Katame. It must be hard for her to walk with a clotted hole in her stomach."

The male genin paled slightly at this idea. "But I saw…" he trailed off as what could be seen of his face turned a red hue contrasting heavily with his previous white. "I can't do that!" he exclaimed nervously, looking past the redhead at his other teammate. "I'd be tempted to…" he trailed off again as his nose started to trickle red.

A sharp kick to the shin that wasn't injured brought him back to reality. "Just go," commanded Taka, "I don't want you annoying me, and she could use the help, whether she says so or not."

He pouted momentarily before nervously complying. Ryoushi took this opportunity to address the one dragging him. "What happened to my teammates?"

The redhead gave him a serious look over her shoulder before nodding to her side. The archer glanced over to find his female fellow nukenin looking heavily burned and asleep, being dragged in a fashion mimicking the way he, himself, was currently traveling, with the jounin sensei doing to carrying. Surprisingly, there were bugs traveling under her stretcher near her feet, where she would be riding the ground, rubbing her skin raw.

"_At least Konoha nin show some respect to those they capture,"_ Ryoushi thought casually, thinking back to a cruel village he had recently made a deal with. Shaking himself from these thoughts, he looked back to the genin dragging him along.

"And Kinome?"

The girl's head drooped, giving him all the answer he needed. A long stream of curses proceeded to issue from his mouth.

"Shino-sensei said he was too dangerous to bring in," Taka interrupted him mid-curse, "Said he could still perform jutsus while restrained." She paused briefly, turning to him with a pleading look. "You must understand that sensei couldn't take the risk of him escaping and saving the two of you."

Ryoushi scowled. But it did make sense. In fact, the jounin was showing amazing insight by knowing Kinome had such abilities. His fellow nukenin rarely used his hand sign-less jutsu in front of enemies. Obviously, this opponent had exceptional information gathering skills.

…Or it was just an excuse he gave his students to lighten the blow of a death.

In the end, it didn't matter. A teammate was dead and there hadn't been anything he could do about it. Just like his old team. And this one wouldn't get any after death respect, like a funeral, either. Only this one wouldn't be because of the insensitivity of a village, just a lack of time. The last one had been the reason behind him becoming a nukenin. This one…

Ryoushi shook his head violently. Now was not the time for him to brood.

He had to get away and soon. If he didn't, he might not be _able_ to get away. The only question as how to do that.

It was then that a rumble chose to make itself known throughout the travel group. Taka turned her full attention forward, blushing in embarrassment, clutching her stomach.

As Hari broke out in laughter, Ryoushi smirked. "Ya know, I could easily hunt something to eat if you'll untie me and give me my bow with a few arrows."

Still flushed in embarrassment, Taka gave him a mild glare. "I'm not stupid, Obaa-san. You're not going to smooth talk me into letting you loose."

The nukenin cursed under his breath. So much for the easy way out…

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Shino walked into the noisy meeting room looking stoic as ever, Shizune closing the door behind him. Several nearby chuunin and jounin paused in there conversations to stare at him in annoyance. He slowly walked toward the desk that the Hokage sat at as silence gradually spread throughout the gathering. He stopped in a line next to an animalistic jounin and a much younger looking black haired Konoha ninja with the room behind him absolutely quiet.

Tsunade looked up at him in half-irritation, half-concern. "You're late, Shino-san. That's unusual for you. I trust you have a reason." She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he said with a brief bow, "We had an encounter with hostile forces on the return trip. The injuries and prisoners hindered our progress the remaining distance home."

The Godaime nodded in understanding. "I trust the genin are safe." Shino's head bobbed. "And you turned the prisoners over to the interrogation corps." Shino's head bobbed again. The Hokage intertwined her finger in front of her face thoughtfully. "I expect a full debriefing when we're done." The special jounin bowed in ascent.

Tsunade lowered her hands to rest on the desk in front of her. "Now, down to business. Jounin-sensei-"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," chorused the group of said jounin.

"Do any of you wish to offer up your genin as candidates for the upcoming chuunin exams?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," repeated nearly every one of those jounin. The blonde motioned for them to start, beginning a long list of potential chuunin from the left side of the line.

This droned on for nearly ten minutes before it finally reached the wild nin on Shino's left. He puffed out his chest in pride before speaking.

"Squad Kiba. Hah-kah Hitayio, Felina Rei, and Tsukino Hotaru. Led by Inuzuka Kiba. I recommend all three for the chuunin exams."

A wave of shocked murmurs went through the room, many protesting the involvement of rookies in the exams. However, before any of them could become shouts of concern, Shino took his turn.

"Squad Shino. Rokotsu Katame, Kuwashii Hari, and Koudoukou Taka. Led by Aburame Shino. I recommend all three for the exams."

A second wave of murmurs, this one louder, spread through the room. A couple voices rose above the others with complaints.

"They can't do that! They're rookies!"

"How can rookies be ready for this already?! It's impossible!"

"You can't put children in danger like that!"

"Shut up!" Tsunade bellowed over all other noise, instantly causing total quiet to pervade the chamber. She took a deep calming breath to prevent her annoyance from overcoming her. "If you'll all recall, Shino-san and Kiba-san were rookies themselves when they took their first exams. I believe they understand the dangers of the exams and the strength of their students."

"Are there any other objections?" she demanded threateningly. No one answered. "Good. Now, let's finish this up, Konohamaru-san."

The young black haired man raised an eyebrow. "Aw, come on Hokage-sama, you know I'm going to say the same thing as the two of them." He motioned briefly to Shino and Kiba before staring at Tsunade expectantly.

The blonde stared back for a moment before smirking. "Naruto sure has rubbed off on you, Konohamaru. You're all dismissed."

However, before anyone could move, a voice rose above the building commotion. "Wait, Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade's eye twitched as she lifted her eyes away from where they were watching her hands reach into her desk to grab a very tempting bottle of sake. Those very eyes landed on a green spandex clad, bowl cut jounin. "Yes, Lee-san?" she inquired with as much restraint as she could manage.

Lee looked at her with a completely straight and serious face as he responded. "I only wish to be sure that the jounin-sensei of the rookies are positive their teams are ready for these exams. Tenten and I withheld our teams for a year for just such a reason."

Beside him, a woman with brown hair pulled up in two buns muttered a short "Despite some very vocal objections," before nodding supportively.

The Hokage stared at him through slightly drooping eyes. Finally, she turned to the three jounin that had been referred to. "Very well…Kiba-san!"

"Hai!"

"Are your genin ready to become chuunin?"

The wild-nin smirked. "More than ready, Hokage-sama."

The blonde nodded. "Shino-san!"

"They are ready, Hokage-sama."

"Konohamaru-san!"

"I guarantee at least one will be chuunin by the end of the exams."

"Are you satisfied now, Lee-san?" she questioned, turning back to the spandex wearing ninja.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. But I must warn you that they will be no match for my youthful students!" He took this moment to perform the patented 'nice-guy' pose, complete with shining teeth.

Kiba's smirk returned. "Wanna bet?"

A certain blonde's eyes flashed dangerously. "I'll take you up on that bet."

Shizune became immediately alarmed. "Tsunade-sama!"

But it was too late as Kiba had raised his brows, impressed by the Godaime's, to quote his thoughts, balls. "How much are we playing for?"

"Tsunade-sama, don't-!"

The woman with the large rack smiled menacingly. "10,000 yen," she declared, holding out a hand.

The wild-nin's eyes bugged out a moment before he took it eagerly. "Deal!"

Without a second thought, the Hokage scanned the rest of the room. "Any more objections?" All was silent. "Dismissed!" The chuunin and jounin slowly started to file out of the room.

As the ruckus covered up conversation, Shizune sighed exasperatedly. "How can you make a bet in front of the entire jounin-sensei population, not to mention the chuunin assigned to work on the exams? You'll ruin your reputation as Hokage, Tsunade-sama!"

"Relax, Shizune," replied the Godaime, "You worry too much. What harm could come from such a small bet?"

The advisor shook her head in shame, whispering to herself. "With you…A whole lot."

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Taka crept through the brush, keeping a vague eye on her adversary and more importantly, the objective that sat at his feet. It seemed odd that he hadn't hidden the object as she had hers, but, then again, he may not have thought he needed to. She scowled at this thought, realizing how low that meant the man thought of, not just her, but her whole team.

Well, they'd teach him.

She stopped as she noticed Hari beginning the assault. His hand shot up out of the ground, forcing the man to jump a few steps back or be caught in the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu), which the green haired genin had apparently managed to learn from scrolls during the few weeks Katame was recovering from her injury. His other hand quickly followed, snatching up the small white tag that was the objective.

Unfortunately, the tag dissolved into a small group of kikai bugs, forcing Hari to stop and shake them off violently.

So, maybe he hadn't underestimated them.

Hari scowled at his sensei as Shino took up a battle stance. He would just have to distract the bug user while his teammates searched the area. He grimaced. That probably wouldn't be pretty.

Nonetheless, he drew a kunai and rushed forward, a battle cry sounding from his throat.

Taka took this opportunity to turn her back on the fight and scan the area for clues to the tag's location. Unfortunately, with her poor tracking skills, she failed to see a white object hanging from a particularly high branch.

After a few minutes of fruitless search, she was startled when Shino landed in front of her. She mentally cursed as she stopped and glanced back to where she knew he and Hari had been fighting-

-Only to see them still at it. An exhausted Hari maintained an offensive, while his opponent dodged each blow. Not blocked, not countered, dodged. She snarled as she turned back to face her sensei. Her teammate was in combat with a mushi bunshin and, knowing her teacher, the one in front of her was probably more of the same. That meant one thing…

He was stalling. He was probably out completing his objective as she stood there thinking. She knew she couldn't waste any time, instantly activating her Nezumi no Jutsu (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu) with a hand sign.

Unfortunately, before she could even begin to formulate any sort of plan, Shino spoke. "It is over." Taka stared at him in a confused silence until he brought his hand up, holding two tags, one green and one red.

She groaned as she fell to sit on her rear. "And I thought I'd hid it so well, too," she murmured in defeat. She turned her head towards where Hari was still wasting his energy. "Oi, pervert! You can stop fighting now! He found both of our tags!"

The boy paused mid-punch to look up at her incredulously. His eyes grew wide as they looked past his teammate at the two objects in his sensei's hand. He reluctantly dropped out of his battle stance as the bug clone dissolved next to him.

With slightly accelerated breathing, he jogged over to meet the teacher and student. The redhead wasted little time in voicing her annoyance.

"Idiot! How could you not have noticed that you were attacking a bug clone!?"

Hari's eyes twitched. "I did! So, don't call me an idiot!...I just figured that that was about half his colony, so I tried to keep it distracted. I mean, I was going easy on it to make sure I didn't kill it!" He turned to Shino, hoping for confirmation of his assumptions.

The bug user paused a moment before speaking in a monotone. "It was merely a fifth of my kikai population."

The male genin's jaw dropped as his teammate mumbled another "Idiot…"

Shino didn't wait for the shock to wear off before tossing the pair their tags. "Sit down until the exercise is over. I want a word." With that, he took off into the trees to find Katame.

Taka caught her tag and giggled as Hari's hit his face, snapping him out of his stupor. Bending over to pick up the green object, the male genin groaned. "I can't believe he found ours and put us out of business so easily…"

The kunoichi laughed briefly. "Yeah, well, he is a tracker specialist. At least we know Katame's still alive since he said 'until the exercise is over'."

Hari nodded and smirked. "A genjutsu user vs. a tracker. Should be fun to watch."

The redhead raised an eyebrow and started to respond but was cut off by a voice from a nearby tree. "Indeed, it will be."

The pair looked up to find Katame squatting on a branch almost directly above them. It didn't take long for Taka to exclaim her surprise. "Katame? What the hell are you doing?"

A second later, a set of shuriken flew through the air, connecting with the blue haired genin, who burst into a cloud of sakura petals. Taka took about another second to repeat her question as she turned to face Shino, who had thrown the weapons, but in fewer words. "What the hell?"

Shortly after, two kunai whisked through the air from a new direction, embedding themselves in the swarm of kikai that the bunshin soon became. A third kunai flew in to connect with the log that replaced Katame, who had thrown the first two.

Then, silence finally took hold of the area. Taka and Hari stood staring at Shino, who was scanning the surroundings, ready to act if necessary. The scene remained that way for a few minutes, the two genin starting a confused conversation that mostly consisted of, "What happened?"

"I dunno."

"Well, you're no help…"

Finally, a white flag arose from a nearby bush. Once she was sure everyone had seen it, Katame stepped out, looking just as blank as usual. A complaint was shortly voiced by the redhead. "Is anyone ever going to answer my question?"

"You mean 'What the hell?'" supplied Hari helpfully.

"Yeah, that one."

Katame stared at them as she approached the two. "I'm surrendering," she stated blankly.

The Koudoukou crossed her arms. "Well, that's obvious. What I want to know is _why_ you're doing so."

The blue haired kunoichi didn't bother vocalizing her response as she pointed at the ground in between the three genin. The other two looked down to find a small group of kikai bugs carrying Katame's blue tag in Shino's direction. A moment later, a single noise of understanding escaped the redhead's lips. "…Ah…"

The genjutsu user took this time to explain. "I had no chance of finding and obtaining my goal before I was taken out of commission."

Shino, who had gradually been walking over to join them, bent down and picked up the blue tag, along with his bugs. Then, he held out his hand above him as if expecting to receive something. To the surprise of all three of his students, a white tag just like their own descended from the sky at a steady pace. It landed softly in his palm, the kikai that had been carrying it merging with the rest of the colony inside him.

"No one ever looks up," said the teacher simply, "Remember that when you wish to hide."

Katame nodded in agreement, while the other two genin stared at him in shock. Not receiving any farther response, the bug user proceeded.

"You did well in this exercise. I have a reward for your experience."

As he held out his arms to allow his insects to bring a few items from inside his trench coat, Taka finally came out of her daze, bringing with her both Hari and noise.

"Wait. What do you mean 'we did well'? We got our asses kicked!" She crossed her arms and glared at her teacher irritably.

"The three of you worked well together without even discussing any sort of plan," answered Shino without hesitation. "Hari-kun played the defensive, distracting part of me from my goal, while the two of you stayed focused on your objectives. Even after the pair of you were out, you managed to provide Katame-chan with an opportunity to reveal her bunshin to me, which caused me to give away my position."

"Whether you meant to or not," he continued, "you showed great teamwork, which is vital for a chuunin team." He finished with three scrolls in his displayed hands.

Six eyes widened at the implication.

"So those are-?" began Taka.

"-Chuunin exam applications!?" finished Hari.

Shino nodded, handing them out.

"Awesome!" exclaimed the male genin.

"Dude!" proclaimed the redhead, "My cousin says it's rare for rookies to even get _recommended_ for the exams. Just imagine if we can pass it!" Katame nodded her agreement.

Their sensei decided to interrupt before they went off on a tangent, which he had found the Koudoukou prone to do when she got excited. "You can all pass. However, you should never underestimate your opponent. For that reason, I shall increase the difficulty of your training 10-fold until the exams begin. A mere sample of what is to come."

He paused as a pair of groans made themselves known. "This will be among the most difficult experiences of your lives. I shall make sure you are ready," he concluded.

A short silence pervaded the group until Hari decided to take the initiative. "Well, if it takes a little extra training to pass, so be it."

Taka sighed in resignation. "I suppose extra training wouldn't hurt."

Katame nodded her ascent. "Extra training would be useful."

Shino smiled behind his high collar. He was proud to say that they had grown since he had taken them on as students. There was only a limited number of things left for him to teach them until he required aid in developing their various techniques and jutsu, being specialized as he was.

"Good. The training begins now," he finished emotionlessly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hari's head drooped exhaustedly as he walked through the market in Konoha. It had been nearly a week since their heavy training had started, and he had gone home dead on his feet every day. All missions had stopped as Shino kept them training from eight in the morning to seven at night, with a small break for lunch. They did everything from survival training to continuous sparring to chakra control and chakra capacity endurance.

Needless to say, he had gotten the best nights of sleep of his life during this time. He hadn't even found the energy to search for Jiraiya and ask about the second Icha Icha book, having finished the first a while ago and become addicted to it. He was tired almost to the point of crawling home.

Thus, he walked towards home, ready to grab a quick dinner and hit the sack.

His inattentiveness caused him to run head first into someone else, who was paying about as much attention to his surroundings as Hari was. The green haired genin let out a grunt as his rear hit the ground, a simultaneous "Oof" emitting from the boy he had hit. The Konoha nin shook his head, trying to make himself more aware, before looking at the one he had run into.

He found a young, short brunette boy with short-cropped hair. His tiny size and baby face made him look like an eight year old, but, to Hari's great surprise, he had a hitai-ate on his forehead with the Cloud symbol on the metal. Even more surprising was the bag of sunflower seeds on the waistband of his light blue pants that seemed to replace the normal ninja's shuriken holster. The Konoha shinobi stared in confusion at the boy's white shirt as said boy stood up, laughing nervously.

"Heheh…Sorry about that. I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going." He held out a hand, which Hari took to help him up.

The green haired genin brought a hand up to scratch his cheek. "Yeah, well, you weren't the only one. No harm done, ne?"

The boy nodded and started to respond when a shout from an obviously female voice interrupted him.

"Sutamina! Where'd you disappear to this time?!"

The brunette sighed exasperatedly.

"Relative?" Hari asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sutamina looked at him with a half frown on his face. "Kind of…" He rolled his eyes. "I don't see how she can think I'm going to get lost though."

"You live in Konoha then?"

"Oh, no!" exclaimed the boy, pointing at his hitai-ate, "I'm a Kumo nin." He brought out a scroll, grinning widely. "I just have a map!"

Hari face vaulted anime style as two people walked up behind his new conversation buddy.

"There you are, Suta!" shouted the lanky purple haired female preteen much louder than was necessary, "I told you not to wander off!" Her hair, held back by her cloud hitai-ate, flowed down to the middle of her back, where it melded with the color of her t-shirt. She had the typical ninja gear with black pants and a bony complexion. She didn't seem very much like a quick and strong ninja, though Hari somewhat doubted his eyes.

"But Sakka-Nee-chan!" Sutamina whined, "The flower shops in the area are so cool! Plus, I got to meet Greenie!" He ran over and glomped Hari, who barely managed to maintain his balance. The Konoha nin's eye twitched as the Kumo shinobi rubbed his face against his upper arm.

The male that had recently joined them scowled at the action as he noticed the hitai-ate around Hari's neck, contorting his handsome young features. "Why are you consorting with the enemy, Suta?" he asked, his black hair swaying in its ponytail. His hitai-ate shined threateningly where it was on his forehead. His hand reached down to grip a kunai in his shuriken holster. His gray pants and shirt hung dangerously from his form as he bent forward aggressively.

"Oi!" exclaimed Hari irritably as he pushed away the child nin's face to keep him from rubbing against him, "Who're you calling 'enemy'?!" He pulled info from a few of the conversations he had vaguely overheard on his way home the past few days to piece together an argument. "These whole chuunin exams are supposed to be the start of peace negotiations between Cloud and Leaf!"

"You!" the shinobi declared in a voice that seemed oddly disconnected to his body, ignoring the second part of Hari's statement. Suddenly, the raven haired Cloud shinobi disappeared, causing Hari to flinch back right into the grip of that same ninja. An arm wrapped around his own, holding it up and away from any of his weapons, while a second came around his neck, holding a kunai inches from his exposed throat.

"Hey! Let 'im go, Uppun-Nii-Chan!" yelled Sutamina in alarm.

"Uppun-kun, we don't want to start anything here," Sakka stated with serious threat.

Uppun smirked as Hari struggled in vain against his grip. "What? Can't break out of this simple hold?" he mocked. His smirk turned into a frown as he felt a point of cold steel on the back of his neck.

"Release him immediately," commanded the female voice behind him.

Hesitantly, he released the Konoha genin, who jumped around him to join his teammate. "Thanks, Katame-chan. I'm still too tired from training to do much."

Uppun smirked skeptically. "Heh…Nice excuse." Without waiting for a retort, he walked back to join his teammates.

The female Kumo nin let out a sigh of relief, thanking Kami that the Konoha ANBU forces hadn't been forced to get involved. She glanced at the roof of a nearby store, seeing the blur of one of those ANBU disappear. That wasn't a genjutsu, like her teammate used to travel so quickly, nor a Shunshin; it was pure speed. ANBU were formidable forces indeed.

Meanwhile, Suta had tackled Hari to the ground affectionately with Katame watching in mild amusement. "I'm so sorry about my Nii-chan!" he apologized loudly before dropping to a whisper, "He's prejudiced against everyone but Kumo." Apparently, Uppun heard anyway because he snorted in annoyance.

Hari raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why. We _are_ having treaty negotiations with you all during these exams."

The raven haired Kumo nin snorted again. "Negotiations are only as good as the words of the ones in charge."

The Konoha male just shrugged as if to say 'whatever'. The young Cloud nin stood up, helping his green haired tacklee do the same. Then, the child bounced up and down excitedly as if just remembering something.

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah! My name's Kadai Sutamina!"

The Leaf genin grinned. "Kuwashii Hari. Nice to meet ya."

The kid continued to bounce excitedly. "Can I call you Hari-Nii-chan?"

The green haired shinobi braced himself for what he was fairly sure was coming. "Uh…Sure."

Sure enough, the boy tried to tackle him again, proclaiming a happy, "Yay!" This time Hari managed to keep his feet but couldn't prevent the smile from rising on his face, curving his eyes to reveal it even with the mask.

With her attention back on the conversation and away from the ANBU, the Kumo kunoichi decided to introduce herself. "I am Bijuaru Sakkaku. It's an honor." She then looked expectantly at the blue haired kunoichi in front of her.

Said kunoichi took that as her cue to speak. "Rokotsu Katame," she stated, bowing slightly.

Sakkaku motioned to her handsome male teammate. "This is Teisuu Uppun. Don't take his dislike personally."

"Of course," replied Katame.

"And _I_ am Koudoukou Taka." The two Kumo shinobi not squeezing Hari spun to find a redhead with an annoyed look on a girl's face and her arms crossed. "Can't a girl get some shopping done in peace? You're drawing a crowd, you know."

Indeed, a small group of spectators had started to form around them, but that wasn't what interested the pair of Cloud nin.

"_I couldn't hear her coming because of all the nearby footsteps. She must've just walked up casually, masking her presence with the similar noises,"_ thought Sakkaku logically.

"What are you doing here, Taka?" asked Hari in surprise as he managed to distract the child-like Kumo nin with the new presence.

"Shopping cause I don't wanna go home yet. I'd rather be out here doing as I please than at home doing whatever tasks the bitch finds to torture me with."

Hari raised an eyebrow at the first reference to her home life that he had ever heard from her but didn't ask any farther questions.

Uppun scowled as he saw the Leaf hitai-ate around the girl's shoulder. He started to move into action against the girl when a hand gripped his wrist. He turned to find Suta holding him back.

"That's enough, Uppun-Nii-chan. We'll leave in a second." The boy's voice somehow became more commanding than seemed humanly possible from such a child-like face.

Oddly, the older looking boy acquiesced reluctantly, giving one last glare to each Konoha shinobi before walking off into the crowd. The Kumo kunoichi let out a sigh as she grabbed the back of Sutamina's collar and started dragging him off. "Let's go, Suta-kun."

"Wait, wait, wait!" he protested loudly as his heels kicked up dust. "Are you taking the chuunin exams in two days, Hari-Nii-chan?"

The green haired genin stared after the odd team a moment in astonishment before collecting himself to answer. "Hai, Suta-kun," he called after the disappearing forms.

"Awesome! We'll see ya there, then!" cane the overly energetic answer from the child.

As the Kumo team disappeared from sight, Taka came over and joined her teammates. "Interesting group…" Katame nodded in agreement.

Hari smirked. "I think I'm going to enjoy these exams after all."

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((Okay, I take it back; this was one of the longest chapters I've written so far. It just seemed short cause I had to write it out before typing it up, where the last three or so chapters I had just typed.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you'll review. That button in the bottom left does look rather tempting, doesn't it?

Thanks again for reviewing, with special thanks to Yuri Toshito, who PMed me in the middle of writing this chapter, urging me to go quicker, which I indeed did, and who is now my top reviewer. I like the encouragement!

SSF out.))


	11. New Rookie Nine

((Hey, people, I'm on time this week

((Hey, people, I'm on time this week! Anyway, I introduced all of the cameos this chapter finally. If you have any complaints about how I wrote your character, feel free to voice them in a review or PM. I'm always willing to accept commentary, even flames.

Also, I would like to thank my BETA, Rinfanalltheway, for not only beta-ing all of the chapters up to this point but providing me with four excellent poems for this chapter. I don't know what I would've done without him!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, nor do I own Hah-kah Hitayio, Rei Felina, Taru, or Tsukino Hotaru, for they all belong to the people who reviewed with them. They have, however, given me free reign on the things I can do with them. :laughs maniacally:

I think that's all the AN I have for now, so let the story commence!))

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**The New Rookie Nine**

Hari groaned in pain as he slowly stood up next to the set of buttons; two at knee level, two at shoulder level, and one at eye level.

"I take it back. I hate this exam," he murmured, referring to the incident from two days previous. Shino-sensei had given them a day of rest following that day as the exams were to start the next day, today as it was. He sighed, thinking back on earlier that morning, when the team had met briefly.

0o0o0oFlashback no Jutsu0o0o0o

_Hari watched in irritation as Taka walked up, five minutes late as usual. "Are you ever going to show up on time?"_

_The redhead just looked at him with a sweet smile on her face. "Maybe someday."_

_The green haired genin rolled his eyes as he turned to his other teammate and teacher. "We can still enter, right?"_

_Shino nodded. "You'll probably be one of the last ones through, but you should be able to."_

_Hari let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good." He put on a big grin, pumping his fist into the air. "Then, let's go!"_

_The sensei smiled down at them, though he knew they couldn't see it. "I am proud of you all and your hard work…" He surveyed them one final time as two of them grinned back with Katame giving a slight upward curve on her lips. They were ready, and he knew it. "…Good luck."_

_All three nodded as he stepped out of the way, allowing them access to the door behind him. They walked past him with determination as two heart rates increased with anticipation. Cautiously, they pushed open the door and stepped through-_

_-Only to find a single chuunin sitting behind a desk, looking incredibly busy with the stacks of papers in front of him, speaking soundlessly to nonexistent forms around him. Katame's eyes narrowed as she recognized a genjutsu but decided not to act against it as it seemed to be there for the sake of the examinees._

_The team quietly approached the desk, confusion written on two of their faces. "Where is everybody?" asked Taka curiously._

_It took a few moments for the chuunin to respond as he seemed distracted with noiselessly communicating with an invisible person. When he finally did turn to them, he let out an irritated sigh. "That's none of your concern, young lady," he answered, holding his hand out to receive their paperwork._

_Looking slightly offended, Taka gave him her exam application along with her teammates, receiving more paperwork in return._

"_Sign the safety agreement and hand it in to be allowed through to the first test," explained the chuunin monotonously._

_Hart scanned the paper briefly, understanding it to mean that he took responsibility if he got hurt, before signing it and handing it back. As the chuunin received the signed papers from the two girls, he motioned for them to proceed through the door next to him._

"_That was faster than I thought it would be," murmured Taka loud enough for her teammates to hear. Hari just shrugged as he opened the door to the first exam-_

_-Only to be met with another basic room with one door. Taka let her annoyance be known rather quickly. "What the hell kind of test is this?" She stepped into the room, giving it another once over, followed shortly by Hari._

_Katame, however, remained at the door with narrowed eyes. As her teammates reached the middle of the room, she held her hands up in a single sign._

"_Kai!" (Release)_

_The other two looked around in confusion as the genjutsu dropped, the single door disappearing, revealing three doors with plaques above them on one of the side walls. Hari stared at each in turn, not understanding their meanings in the least. Then, he looked at the larger fourth plaque that stood above the other three that read:_

In each you seek

What you have not

To cover you

In battles fought,

But now you face

A darker feud

When you're lost

To solitude.

Once a crutch

Now a heel

As you, Achilles

Will surely feel.

In this profession

You're forced to part

From those you know

And are close to heart.

Go forward young

To what is shown,

And tame your fear

When you're alone.

_Hari stared at the strange piece of poetry, slowly piecing together a meaning. "So, each of us goes into a separate room?" he finally asked after a few minutes, tilting his head to the side._

"_So it seems," replied Katame in a whisper._

"_And, is it just me, or is it mocking us?" he continued to inquire. As he turned to look at Katame, all he got was a raised eyebrow._

"_Chakra control on the left," declared Taka, startling Hari into looked at her as she held her hands in the sign for her Nezumi (Rat) Isshiki no Jutsu and her eyes wandered the smaller plaques. It took a second before he realized that she was using the rat jutsu to decipher the complicated writing. He turned back to the plaques and examined them more closely, starting from the one Taka had already identified._

I dance the razor's edge

Along the river's bank,

Laughing at a passing boat

Barely still to remain afloat.

I seek to see it sank.

From my midst I set ablaze

The failing form that I gaze.

Now you stand at its bow,

And your hands grip an oar.

Paddle fast sailor,

Or you'll never see the shore

_Hari nodded approvingly. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he recognized the references to the water walking chakra control exercise, thus meaning that the test was most likely chakra control through that door. _

_With that conclusion, he read the middle one._

Bear agile eyes

And feathered feet

If this test

You dare complete.

The other two are heart and mind.

You must leave these far behind.

Born by sweat and hate,

Your path is severed

If you wait.

Never falter in your will.

Push past the pain that you feel

For scars will dull and fade

But wounds of shame never heal.

_Hari frowned in confusion at it. Leaving heart and mind far behind? Weren't those kind of important to_ living_? Severed path if you wait? What on earth was it talking about? Well, at least he could understand the ending: whoever went to this one would most likely be feeling quite a bit of pain…_

_Before he could become more bewildered, he turned toward the final plaque._

A mountain's breath,

A mouse's roar

Is what you face

Behind this door.

A paradox that does exist

For I am life

With a deadly twist.

Now square your feet

And steel your mind

For the sights

That lay behind.

So take two steps forward,

Then take a breath.

Take one step backward,

And do the rest.

_The green haired genin's eye twitched as he stared at the literature. He had no clue what that was supposed to mean. Hell, that one was even more confusing than the last one. Two steps forward, one step back…Why would you want to do that? It would be a waste of time!_

_Grumbling about a lack of intelligence in himself, he glared at the floor in front of him gloomily. This lasted all of two seconds before Taka spoke again, bringing the mask wearing genin back to reality._

"_Middle is agility taijutsu."_

_He placed his palm on his forehead and shook his head as he looked up at the door, resigned to just go with whatever his teammate came up with. "So, what's the last door then?" he asked as he spun to face the redhead._

_She blinked at him a few times before responding. "What? You can't tell?"_

_His expression became angry as he glared at her. "What do you mean by that?!"_

_She merely raised an eyebrow and nodded toward the final door. Rotating, he found Katame standing in front of it with her hand on its handle, ready to go through._

"_Genjutsu then?"_

"_Hai," answered Taka, "So, which door would you like?"_

_Hari brought his hand up to his chin as he examined the two remaining doors carefully. "Hm…Chakra control or agility?...I know I'm going to regret this, but I'm probably better at agility, so I should probably take that one."_

_Taka nodded her agreement. "That's probably best. I'm left with chakra control then."_

"_You sure you're okay with that?"_

"_Hai." She smirked sideways at him. "I'm better at chakra control than you would think."_

_The male genin shrugged. The two stared at each other in silence a moment before turning simultaneously to walk toward their chosen doors. They rested their hands on the knobs in the same way Katame was._

"_Ya know, I don't think we have to go through at the same time," the redhead broke the silence._

_The green haired boy smiled over at her. "Better safe than sorry."_

_She rolled her eyes before nodding the point. Then, she looked back at the door. "On three…" Hari gripped the knob more tightly. "One…" He brought his second hand to lay on his first. "Two…" He twisted the knob open. "Three!" He pushed the door open and stepped through-_

_-Into another room. His eye twitched as it landed on a plaque on the wall in front of him._

_Choosing to ignore it, he scanned the rest of the white room. There stood a lone door on the wall under that plaque and some sort of machine attached to the adjoining wall. Curiosity getting the better of him, he walked over to inspect the device._

_It had five buttons with the one at eye level flashing with the word "Begin". Above it were the words "strikes" and "completed" with enough room to make a short list under each. Mentally placing those under the "unnecessary" category in his brain, he went on to examine the bars that connected the buttons to the wall, as well as the buttons themselves carefully, before settling on scrutinizing the sole active button. He stared as it blinked mere inches from his nose._

_Then, he stood back up to full height, grumbling about idiotic mechanisms, and strode purposefully to the door that had yet to be opened. As he pushed himself against the door to throw it open, he found it locked tight._

_Snarling viciously, he scanned the room again. The door he had come through had disappeared, no doubt a genjutsu to prevent backtracking. The rest of the nearly empty room remained the same. He glanced at the plaque above him, once more ignoring its words, before going back to the machine._

_He stopped in front of it and glared at it before sighing in resignation. "Here goes…"_

0o0o0oEnd Flashback no Jutsu0o0o0o

Hari was really wishing he had read that plaque right about now. At least then, he might've had _some_ idea of what was coming, even if it did confuse him. Instead, he had jumped in blind. Thus, after he hit the begin button, he had had no clue what to do as the right hand button flashed green. He now realized he should've probably hit the thing as, since he missed his chance, he was electrocuted by a strong bolt of electricity, forcing him to the ground.

As he was now recovering from that shock, he glanced up at the two places he had noticed earlier to find an 'X' under the strikes section. He scowled at it before turning his attention back to the button in front of his face, which now flashed "Resume-10" with the number reducing by one with every blink.

He growled irritably before taking a deep, calming breath. "Alright, let's try this again." He took a fighting stance as the resume number flashed at five.

"_Let's hit the buttons as they flash then, shall we,"_ he thought sarcastically as he hit the button in front of his face.

A green light lit up at his right hand, and, a moment later, that hand connected with it, causing a 'ping' sound to resonate throughout the room and a check to appear under the completed list. _"Hoorah! Figured it out!"_ he cheered mentally.

He smirked as a red light appeared at his left foot, immediately kicking it-

-And screaming in pain as a second electric shock ran through him, bringing him to his knees. His lungs continued to burn as he stayed there, recovering his breath. Groaning, he pushed himself back up shakily. He glared when he noticed a second 'X' under the strikes area, along with the word 'warning' showing brightly beneath it. He took another deep breath, thinking, _"Okay, don't hit the red ones."_

Hari sighed as he dropped back into a ready stance, wincing as he noticed that the electricity had aggravated the leg he had taken an arrow to a few weeks previous, making it numb. Scowling, he punched the leg with the outside of his fist, trying to get feeling back into it before the resume timer ran out.

He flinched as he started to receive the pain of the hits. He quickly looked up and smacked the resume button with just three seconds left. The right hand target flashed green again, instantly being hit. Two more green blinks occurred, neither lasting more than a second. Then, a red light appeared at eye level, and Hari had to restrain himself from head-butting it, grinding his teeth in the process.

About 30 seconds later, he had ten checks under the complete list and only the same two strikes as before. A loud click sounded through the room as the lights on the machine turned off in front of the genin.

Hari let out a sigh of relief as he turned to the door. He had succeeded somehow. Now, he only had to trust his teammates to do the same.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Taka stared up at the plaque above the locked exit. It read:

"Put on the body suit. Increase flow of chakra to the points indicated by the suit a total of ten times to proceed. Failure to do so will result in a strike, of which you have three."

Slowly, she lowered her head to view the full-body suit that rested at her feet. Her eyes wandered back to the message on the wall, beginning to twitch.

"_You've gotta be kidding me…"_ she thought in disbelief.

She scanned the rest of the nearly empty room, searching for some spot that someone could be watching her through. After three scans and numerous examinations of suspicious looking locations, she concluded that she was safe from her dreaded enemy, the pervert.

She quickly changed into the skin tight black body suit that covered all but her head. Grumbling, she wondered vaguely what she was supposed to do as she noticed the complete and strike lists located on her forearms.

Before she could think any further, she felt a warming sensation near her left wrist. Not sure what else to do, she scrutinized the site as it gradually heated up. She rubbed the wrist curiously, only to have the temperature spike there, causing her to bend over and grip her arm near the elbow tightly in pain, grinding her teeth at the same time.

A moment later, the heat died down, leaving her breathing heavily with a sensation like she had just held her hand over an intense fire for far too long. Gasping for air, she reexamined her burned wrist, only to be distracted as she noticed an 'X' had appeared under the strikes category. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that the increase in temperature had been the 'point indicated by the suit'.

Standing back up to full height with a look of determination on her face, she brought her hands up into the universal chakra gathering hand sign. A moment later, the warming sensation appeared again, this time around her right leg. Focusing, she channeled chakra to that location, causing it to cool to normal.

She smirked in triumph.

The heat returned at her stomach, and she focused chakra there. This process continued for about a minute, at which point she had collected ten successes, causing a loud click to resonate in the room. Grinning, she quickly changed back into her normal clothes and proceeded in triumph to the exit.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katame glanced around the room suspiciously. It was completely empty, no door, no machine, no suit, nothing. Except for the plaque next to her. She scanned it briefly, reading:

"Dispel all of the illusions to proceed."

She scanned the room again. She had no doubt that there were numerous genjutsu in place on her. Without further ado, she began dispelling the mirages.

"Kai!" she shouted, bringing her hands up into a sign.

The room around her slowly dissolved, blurring as it changed colors and forms. A second later, the blue haired kunoichi found herself on a small deserted island with a single palm tree. She raised an eyebrow in slight amusement before breaking the second false image.

"Kai!"

The scene blurred again before forming as a burning hot, dry desert. She glanced around emotionlessly before deciding to try a new tactic. She brought her arms up to form a short series of hand signs.

"Shikai!" (Initial Release)

The technique caused her to emit a constant, though slow, flow of chakra that kept her surroundings in a permanent hue of rainbow colors as she destroyed genjutsu after genjutsu. Finally, the changes slowed, settling on a white room with a single door and a bright sign above it offering a colorful 'Congratulations!".

Knowing of the previous techniques numerous flaws, Katame didn't even bother looking around, instead, running through even more hand signs.

"Bankai!" (Final Release)

A heavy shockwave of chakra burst forth from her, disintegrating the room instantly. A moment later, she stood aboard a large ship, rolling with the waves of the sea supporting it.

The genin glared at nothing in particular. This was getting repetitive, not to mention a waste of chakra. Thus, she turned to the second method for dispelling genjutsu.

Unable to do it on the fly yet, she sat down cross-legged with her hands held up in front of her, palms pressed together. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes, concentrating on reducing the flow of her chakra to prevent the illusions from affecting her.

Once she felt the rocking waves stop beneath her, she slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself on a wide open plain with nothing to see but grass and the far off horizon. She scowled as she stood up, abandoning her attempts to temporarily end her energy flow.

She had been sure that she had managed to succeed in her challenge, but still she couldn't break all of the fakes. That left her with one option.

Resigned, she took out a kunai. Silently, she made a small cut down the back of her forearm, gritting her teeth slightly as she focused on the pain.

A second later, she stood in another white room, this one with two doors, one with a sign over it reading:

"You may now proceed through here."

Deciding to be absolutely sure she had gotten all of them, she gave one more burst of chakra, accompanied by a quick murmur of "Kai." When nothing changed, she concluded that she had completed the challenge.

With a small smile on her face, she walked through the door with the sign.

"I am going to kill whoever made this exam!" A familiar female voice reached her ears.

"I think I'll join you!" A second familiar voice, this one male.

The genjutsu user rolled her eyes as she approached her two teammates.

Taka's face brightened as she noticed the kunoichi walking towards her. "Hey, Katame!" she greeted, happy that the whole team made it through. Then, she became unusually serious. "Did they hurt you, too?" 

The blue haired kunoichi stared at her a moment before softly shaking her head. The redhead frowned. "Lucky. They burned me pretty badly." She lifted her arm, showing Katame what looked like a second degree burn on her wrist.

Hari stepped up next to the pair. "Yeah, and they lit me like a bulb. So bad, in fact, that my leg went numb again like it did against the nukenin we captured a while ago." He scowled as he put weight on the leg, and it tingled dangerously.

Katame glanced between the two blankly. "You don't really care, do you?" asked Taka with a raised eyebrow. She sighed when all she received was a shrug. "Well, whatever. Any idea what we're supposed to do now?"

The group, at this point, looked around the room. It was rather large, almost auditorium size, and currently held a good one-hundred shinobi, most standing in groups of two or three. At the front sat what seemed like a jounin with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail, looking quite asleep. The rest of the ninja seemed to be genin taking the exams, some of them looking incredibly intimidating.

Katame took special notice of an older group of Kiri genin, in their late teens it looked like, that seemed entirely too sure of themselves. The one she assumed to be the leader stood leaning against the wall, his hitai-ate sticking halfway out of a pocket on his black vest, which covered a tight net undershirt, with black pants to go along with it as his black hair reached down to mid-back, giving him a slightly feminine appearance.

One of his treammates, a girl with similarly long, purple hair being held back by her hitai-ate, stood with her arms crossed over her chest with her own net undershirt showing past a halfway buttoned up black blouse with tight black pants, emphasizing her strong leg muscles.

The other teammate sat next to them, indian-style, on the floor, his dark maroon hair pulled back in a short ponytail, his hitai-ate around his forehead, thin black clothing covering most of his skin, a long sword sheath on his belt, whose blade was being held up by his hands for his eyes to examine. His handsome features, emphasized by the black clothing, drew attention to his face.

Together, they gave off an arrogant vibe, ignoring all who came near, despite any possible threat to them. Katame made a mental note to watch them in the future.

She turned back to her teammates again as they resumed talking. "Should we wake up the guy in front and ask?" inquired Taka, "He seems most likely to know."

"I don't know…" responded Hari hesitantly, "No one else is doing anythi-"

"Spike!"

He was interrupted as a body suddenly tackled him from behind, knocking his unprepared form to the ground with a startled cry. He let out an "Oof" as the body landed on top of him. The unknown form let out a giggled as he groaned. He tried to open his eyes, only to realize that his vision was entirely blocked by the person. Another giggled erupted as the obvious female lifted her upper body off of his.

He then found himself staring at two round bumps that soon traveled downward, out of his field of vision, to be replaced by two purple eyes staring back at his own.

"Hey, Spike! Long time, no see!" the girl exclaimed happily.

"Magusa?"

Her face became pleasantly surprised. "You remembered!"

Hari blushed, realizing where that meant his face had probably just been, which happened to be the same place it had been all those weeks ago. "Er…Yeah…" he said nervously as he thought, _"Kinda hard to forget…"_

He continued talking awkwardly. "Nice to see you, too, I suppose"

She smiled widely down at him before standing up from where she had been straddling him and offering him a hand in getting up, which he took, his face bright red. Then, she immediately wrapped her arms around one of his possessively.

"I hope you're ready for defeat this time, _Master_," Sokudo stated, putting exaggerated emphasis on the last word, as he joined his teammate and rivals. Toukan stood behind him off to the side with his arms crossed, looking highly annoyed.

The redhead smirked back. "We'll see, ya little Kitsune-gaki." (Fox-brat)

The Mist nin raised an eyebrow and was about to respond when he was interrupted by another shout.

"Hari-Nii-chan!"

Said green haired genin wasn't entirely surprised when he was tackled to the ground again, bringing a startled Magusa with him. A second later, he lay on his back with a body on each shoulder, glaring daggers across his chest at each other.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the Mist kunoichi furiously, pointing an accusing finger at the young boy across from her.

"I'm Hari's brother, so you can go away." Sutamina stuck his tongue out mockingly.

The blonde Kiri nin's eyes flashed dangerously. "We don't need a stupid gaki getting between us, right Spike?" She looked expectantly at the male genin, joined shortly after by the Cloud nin.

Hari's eye twitched before he sat up, placing a hand on each of their faces and pushing them away from him. "Both of you can go away! I'm not in the mood."

Sakkaku laughed as she and her other teammate approached them, Uppun with a half-frown on his face. "Come on, Suta, you can't own everybody." Then, her face became suddenly serious. "And quit running off, darn it!" she commanded, much too loudly for an indoor scenario, causing everyone nearby to cover their ears momentarily.

As Taka allowed herself to listen again, she heard a sharp hissing noise. Lifting her head, she found a young, extremely tall, graceful-looking girl in short sleeve netting with a Konoha hitai-ate tied around her chest. She wore long black pants along with the typical black ninja sandals. Her eyes glared from behind red metallic sunglasses. "_Must_ you be so loud?" she asked heatedly.

Taka nodded in understanding. _"Of course Felina Rei, with her strong cat-like hearing, would be hurt by such a yell," _she thought, remembering the girl from her academy days.

"Ah, come on, Rei-chan, can't you tell it's a party over here?" came a cheerful voice from past Felina. The tall cat-nin stepped to the side, allowing a boy with red hair down to his waist with hints of black at the bangs just above his eyes to walk up. Taka noticed from her position slightly to the side that there was a red wing design on the back of his black shirt. His dark Capri's came just past his knees, and his hitai-ate was wrapped where it should be around his forehead. He laughed joyfully as everyone stared at him.

Taka rolled her eyes. _"Hah-kah Hitayio, sarcastic as always,"_ she thought, once more thinking of her academy experience.

She looked beyond him to see a shy girl with light purple hair tied back in a braid and bright pink eyes nervously approaching. Her hitai-ate, which had a small piece of a leather choker showing beneath it, was tied around the neck of her red tank top, which Taka could see from the side had a silver crescent moon on its back with a katana sheath strapped over it, showing long fishnet sleeves that covered her entire arms. Her black knee-length pants led down to her thin legs and leather sandals.

Taka stared at her as she half-hid behind Hitayio. _"And the shy and cautious Tsukino Hotaru. Interesting that they would be put on a team…"_

Hotaru continued to stand there silently as she appraised the gathered group. She seemed slightly insecure as she looked at the foreigners.

The response to Hitayio's previous sarcastic comment about a party came in another new face, which appeared in the middle of them quite suddenly. "Party? Where? I want some booze!" The shoulder length snow-white hair of the tall, clumsy-looking boy flew around wildly as he searched for the non-existent social gathering. His belt, which held up baggy cargo pants and a vest-shirt, was lined with kunai and weapon holsters. The yellow hitai-ate band stood out sharply around his neck, along with his bright yellow eyes, which were mostly covered by his bangs.

Taka stared at him in amusement. _"The same fun-loving Tenshou Kizui that I remember."_

Her thoughts were interrupt by yet another new arrival. "There is no party, genius. It's called sarcasm. Ya know, the thing you use constantly." Kizui's head drooped in disappointment as his teammate joined the circle of genin, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. His short blond hair seemed unusual on the mature-looking face. His hitai-ate was wrapped tightly, just above his calm teal eyes. His blue sweatpants and t-shirt hung loosely on his form with a single kunai holster on his belt.

Taka blushed as she saw him. _"My Emerarudo Tuonyo-kun. So cool!"_ However, her attention was drawn away from her crush by a muttering nearby.

"What a pain…" A gentle-looking girl murmured as she joined the growing crowd. Her hitai-ate held back her medium length blond hair. A small, gold, heart-shaped locket hung around her neck on the outside of her white shirt with black pants. However, what was really strange was the tiger cub that lay, asleep, on top of her head.

Taka slightly glared at her for being on the same team as her crush. _"And Seidou Taru, the lazy bum."_

Hari then laughed rather suddenly. "Hey, wha'd'ya know, the new rookie nine together again." Magusa cleared her throat, drawing his attention to the half-assed glare she was giving him. "Er…Along with some tag-alongs." Her glared turned full force as she placed her fists on her hips, causing him to take a step back. "I-I mean, along with some very close friends!" She continued to advance, causing Hari to bring his hands up to protect his face. "Don't hurt me!"

Hitayio burst out laughing as Rain's intimidation factor dropped to normal levels. "He's not even a teenager and Hari-kun's already whipped!" Everyone except Katame, Toukan, and Uppun shared a chuckle at Hari's expense.

Taka sighed as she finished, breaking out into a large smile around the group. "It's good to have so many allies."

"Here, here!" agreed Tounyo. Everyone with the exception of one ice using Mist nin and one grappling Cloud nin shared an agreeing nod, signaling the hope of friendship among all but the two.

Off to the side, the over-confident Kiri team that Katame had taken notice of earlier watched them with slight glares. "That's them, right?" asked the female among them.

Her dark-haired teammate nodded. "Hai."

"But only the Konoha teams, correct?" inquired the sword wielder from the ground.

"Hai," answered the leader once more before breaking into a wicked grin. "Let's have some fun with this, shall we?"


	12. The Keep

((Yeah, you know what's coming

((Yeah, you know what's coming. I'm sorry this was a week late. I took a 10 day vacation and didn't exactly write much during it. I apologize. At least it's here, right?

If those of you that reviewed with characters have any complaints, feel free to voice them. I'll do what I can to fix whatever I messed up. But keep in mind that some things need to be changed for it to be realistic/fit into this story.

And ya know…I just realized how long things are going to take to get done now that we have so many people being introduced…-sigh- Well, guess that's just how things will have to be.

Hitayio: Why do I have to do it?

SSF: Because I said so.

Hitayio: But you don't own me!

SSF: And…?

Hitayio: Nor do you own the canons or the cameo characters! You can't force us to do anything!

SSF: Exactly.

Hitayio: Hah. I win…Wait a minute-

SSF: On with the story!

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**The Keep**

The young, redheaded male known to Taka as Hato-kun stood amongst the crowd, watching that very same Taka converse with her fellow rookies from Konoha, Kumo and Kiri alike. He smiled weakly to himself.

"_Looks like she finally has something going her way,"_ he thought with mild satisfaction.

"Hato-kun!" exclaimed a voice fiercely beside him. Mentally sighing, he turned toward his overenthusiastic teammate. He was unsurprised to see a black haired bowl cut with enormous eyebrows and green spandex clothes with the Leaf hitai-ate tied as a belt, along with hideous looking orange leg warmers. "Is that redhead you are watching your youthful young cousin?"

Hato stared at the teammate that looked so much like their male sensei, though he knew this was a girl, with something akin to boredom. "Yes, Shan, she is."

Shan brought her fist up in front of her face with the fire of determination burning in her eyes. "Then, we shall have to show her our own youthful spirits!"

She started to run towards Taka, only to be caught by her should by the pair's other teammate. "Not now, Shan."

The two looked back to find a feminine body with long, straight brown hair, which was unusual considering his clan. He had on the white robes of the Hyuuga clan with black shorts to cover up the bottom. His hitai-ate was tied around his forehead in what Hato knew as honor for the older branch members, such as his father, who had the caged bird seal still placed there.

The redheaded Hato nodded in agreement. "Nebin's right, Shan. We'll have plenty of time to show our 'youth' later in the exams."

"Very well. I shall resist the temptation of youth for now."

Suddenly, a girl with blonde hair down to the base of her skull appeared next to the spandex clad kunoichi. Two strands of her hair hung down past the Konoha hitai-ate tied around her neck to her chest, where she wore white Hyuuga robes similar to Nebin's, though made for a female. "Don't worry, Bushy Brow the Third, we'll both show our combined springtimes of youth in the very next exam!"

The fire returned to Shan's eyes as she put an arm around the blonde. "Yosh! We shall do so together, Hinashin-chan!"

As their determination peaked, a new voice decided to bring at least one of them back to earth. "Dobette, you're not supposed to egg her on." Everyone looked at the source to find a male with spiky raven-colored hair staring at the pair disinterestedly. With the Uchiha symbol on the back of his black shirt and a Konoha hitai-ate on his forehead, it was obvious which clan he was part of. The black shorts seemed to complete the arrogant air that seemed to apply to all Uchiha.

"Oh, shut up, Koukatsu! You're just jealous that you don't have the energy that I do!" exclaimed Hinashin, pointing dramatically at the young Uchiha.

Koukatsu snorted arrogantly. "You wish, dobette."

The kunoichi grabbed her teammate by the collar. "What'd you say?!" she demanded angrily, glaring daggers into his eyes.

The raven-haired genin glared back. "You heard me."

Hinashin growled, pulling her fist up for a punch. Then, suddenly, she found herself unable to move, her fist about six inches from its target. Slowly, her muscles let go of their captive and came down to form a single hand sign in front of her against her will. Snarling in frustration, she gave into the Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu).

"Troublesome fools," muttered a boy with black hair tied back in a ponytail as he approached them, hands still held in the sole sign required for his technique. His hitai-ate was tied around his shoulder over a net shirt, which only showed past his second black vest in the center of his chest and on his arms. The basic weapon holster hung on the belt of his gray pants. His face was marred in irritation as he allowed the shadow possession to drop off of Hinashin. "Now anyone here that's paying attention has seen one of my jutsu." He grumbled realistically.

Hinashin brought a fist up in front of her face as she turned toward the new male. "Then, you should've let me hit him, Rokuden!"

Shan looked at her friend hesitantly. "But Hina-chan, fighting amongst teammates isn't youthful!"

The blonde kunoichi growled ferally. "He's got it coming to him!" Off to the side, Koukatsu reguarded his teammate blankly.

Hato sighed. "Hinashin-chan," For the first time since she had arrived, she looked at the redhead, "After the exams are over, hit Koukatsu-kun all you want; I really don't care. But now is _not_ the time to be fighting amongst _ourselves_. We should all try to work together."

The Hyuuga robed kunoichi grumbled her reluctant acceptance of these points as another voice broke in. "That would be preferable." The group turned simultaneously toward the noise to find a group of three Sand genin standing there. "Yo," continued the boy in front.

His Suna hitai-ate shown brightly on his forehead below his short, dark blue hair. His tan and brown clothing, that blended well with the Suna sands, covered most of his body with an extra strap diagonal across his chest to hold up a small gourd that stuck out over his shoulder. His gentle face smiled back at them happily.

His male teammate stood on his left, a few steps back, in an all black fully body suit with two tentacle-like things that came out of its hood and jaw-like markings around his face, along with face paint that just added to the spider look. His hitai-ate stood out brightly from the suit on his forehead. On his back stood a large bundle wrapped in white bandages. He looked slightly unwilling to be there.

On the leader's right stood the kunoichi of the team. Her straight black hair was pulled back into a pair of long ponytails. Her purple clothing clung tightly to her muscular body with a net shirt visible beneath it and her hitai-ate tied around her waist. She glanced around the Konoha genin arrogantly as they surveyed her.

It was Hinashin who quickly broke the forming silence. "Jiheki!" she exclaimed, rushing up to the guy in front. Then, she turned to the male and female, in turn. "And Souran and Ichijin! What're you all doing here? I didn't think Temari-sensei would be able to get another mission to Konoha for a while."

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Ichijin, putting her hands on her hips.

"They're taking the exams, dobette," Koukatsu cut in as if it were indeed obvious.

Hinashin puffed up indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can't just assume that's true."

"Such assumptions are usually safe to make, Hina," concluded Rokuden matter-of-factly. Before his teammate could make any sort of comment to prolong the argument, the ponytailed male continued, addressing the Sand shinobi. "So, are you proposing our three teams work together to make sure all nine of us pass?"

Jiheki nodded.

"That is an excellent idea!" proclaimed the bowl cut kunoichi excitedly.

"Quiet, Shan!" commanded Nebin forcefully. "Are you _trying_ to put a bull's-eye on our heads?" he demanded as his teammate did as told.

Before the spandex wearing kunoichi could burst out once more, Jiheki spoke again. "Do you agree then?"

Rokuden nodded for all of them. "It would be pretty difficult to beat a group of nine genin of our caliber."

Hinashin stepped next to her teammate and nudged the genius with her elbow. "Plus you get to slack off more with more people around." The lazy genin smiled as he imagined himself laying on a branch, staring at the clouds, while all eight of the other genin did his work for him.

"It doesn't matter," interceded the Sand leader, breaking his daydreams, "If we can pick his brain for a good enough plan, he can slack off all he wants."

"It's troublesome," muttered Rokuden, "But I guess it's for the best." He looked around as everyone nodded their acceptance.

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Hinashin happily. She paused as her stomach rumbled loudly, causing her to blush. "Now, when's lunch? I'm starving!"

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After the introductions of the Cloud and Mist teams to the rest of the new rookie nine, smaller conversations broke off, most notably another argument between Magusa and Suta over Hari, which Taka watched in amusement.

"He's mine!" shouted the Kiri kunoichi, glaring at her adversary.

"He's mine!" yelled the Kumo genin, glaring back. Sparks shot between their eyes as they came within a few inches of each other.

Hari stood beside the two, his eyes twitching. "I don't belong to anybody, damn it!"

The pair turned on him with dangerous glares. "You shut up!" they commanded simultaneously. Hari cowered in a corner as his 'owners' continued their duel of glares.

The redhead giggled as she watched.

"Hey, Taka?" She looked over toward the voice and blushed when she found Tounyo just a few steps away staring at her. "Could I see your hand?"

The redhead blushed even brighter. "W-what?"

The blonde sighed as he realized the misunderstanding. "The burn, Taka."

She brought her hands up in front of her face. "Huh? Oh! Oh yeah. Sure." She held her wounded hand out, allowing him to take it gently and examine the burn.

"Hm…That's pretty bad…" He temporarily released her hand as he went through a short series of hand signs, his hands glowing slightly green as he finished. The kunoichi blushed again as the blonde gripped her hand more firmly to hold the wound more secure.

"What're you doing?" asked Taka nervously as Tounyo brought his hand over the burn.

"Helping the blood clot so that it won't hurt when you touch the burn." The redhead gave him a confused look as he concentrated on the chakra control required for the jutsu before watching the technique at work. Her eyes widened in amazement as the injured skin disappeared under a dark red clot.

As the blonde released her hand, she brought the hand up to scrutinize it. She flinched slightly as, when she twisted her wrist, the scab broke across a line and jabbed her healing skin. "Yeah, you should probably be careful when moving it" said Tounyo in slight amusement.

Taka blushed at her own lack of common sense. "So, which test did you take?" she inquired, trying to change the subject.

The male genin raised an eyebrow at the obvious evasion but answered nonetheless. "Chakra control. Being a medic nin in training, that one was probably easiest for me."

"I didn't know you could get medic nin training when you're a genin," stated Felina as she approached Tounyo from behind, causing both of the discussing shinobi to jump.

"Kami, don't sneak up on us like that!" cried Taka.

"What do you expect from a neko nin?" asked Felina haughtily.

Recovering himself, the blond responded to the cat nin's original statement in effort to keep things peaceful. "Technically, you're not allowed to have the training until you're a chuunin, but my mom's a medic nin, so she's taught me the most basic of the abilities."

"So that's why all you could do is make it clot?" the redhead questioned, "You've not been trained in anything stronger?"

Tounyo shook his head. "Nope. And it's probably a good thing I haven't because mistakes can be costly with these jutsu."

"Hm…Well, whatever," Felina paused as she yawned widely. "I'm going to fall asleep if things don't get going again soon." Her eyes started to droop as she yawned again.

Suddenly, a ball of yarn flew through the air in front of her, causing her eyes to shoot wide open. The other two sweat-dropped as she leapt down and started batting at the yarn.

"So easy to keep amused." The pair turned to find a laughing Hitayio with Hotaru a step behind him.

Tounyo looked back at the brunette kunoichi. "She really is like a cat, isn't she?"

The male redhead grinned. "Night and day, every day." He smirked. "You should see her in heat." The blonde raised an eyebrow as Hitayio received a soft elbow to the side from his quieter teammate, telling him not to make such jokes.

"Do you carry the yarn around with you all the time?" Taka asked as she continued to watch Felina attack the yarn.

The jokester smirked again. "Yup. I carry it in my pants, too." Taka blushed at the reference as he took another, slightly harder, elbow to the ribs, causing him to flinch slightly.

Hotaru looked at the ground as she answered the question truthfully in a small voice. "I keep it in my shuriken holster."

"Just so you can make sure she doesn't get bored?" the Koudoukou clan member inquired. The purple headed kunoichi nodded.

Suddenly, the four heard laughing coming from the direction Felina had been in. They turned and sweat-dropped as they saw a cackling Kizui, with a ball of yarn in hand, running away from the now vicious cat nin.

"Get back here, you asshole!" she shouted furiously as she started running on all fours. "Give back my toy!"

The white haired genin cackled again. "You gotta catch me first!" He continued laughing as he ran in the direction of Sokudo, Sakkaku, and Taru, who had been in conversation.

As he ran by them, he was startled to find an arm raise and connect with his chest, knocking him off his feet and causing him to lose his grasp on the ball. He landed with a solid thud with the yarn landing much softer a few feet away. Felina leapt over him with joy on her face as she batted the string a short distance away and resumed play.

Kizui groaned as he sat up. "You're such a pain, ya know that?" said an obviously bored voice behind him.

The white haired genin grinned as he turned where he sat. "Aw, come on, Taru-chan. Did you have to do that? I was having fun!"

Taru stared at him blankly. "Yes. You can have fun without antagonizing people. It only causes more of a pain later."

Kizui frowned at her but didn't respond and stood up.

Then, the whole room, who had been watching the commotion between the local rookies with either mild interest or annoyance, turned to the front as a tired voice boomed through the crowd. "Attention everyone." The jounin at the front of the room had been awoken by a chuunin and now spoke. "It's troublesome, but the first exam is now over." A wave of murmurs went through the genin.

"What if we only have two of our team here?" yelled someone.

The ponytailed jounin sighed. "If you have an incomplete team, you fail and must exit through the door at the back." Another wave of murmurs, followed by nearly a quarter of the gathered group leaving. As the noise died down again, he spoke once more. "And if you stay with an incomplete team, when we find out, and we will, you will be disqualified and banned from _ever_ taking the chuunin exams again." Another pack of about five genin left the room.

The jounin sighed again. "Troublesome brats," he muttered, "Now, my name is Nara Shikamaru, and I was the proctor for the first part of your chuunin exams. Congratulations to all of you for passing that part."

Another wave of murmurs and small celebrations erupted throughout the room. "So that's it? It's that easy?" demanded someone from the crowd.

Shikamaru slightly glared at the gathering for making him do more work than necessary before resigning himself to do his job. "Allow me to explain…"

"A team must be well-rounded to be successful, otherwise a single enemy will be able to take advantage of their collective weakness. For example, if we have a team on which no one can identify and dispel illusions, a single genjutsu user could place them under a genjutsu and easily kill them all. Thus, it was vital that we have a test of the three most important areas: genjutsu recognition and breaking, taijutsu, and chakra control."

"Furthermore, the riddles above each door were designed to test a ninja's ability to act upon a limited amount or coded knowledge. Sometimes, a shinobi must act blindly as I'm sure a few of you had to do. Any more questions?"

There were a few nods to the 'blindly acting' comment, but otherwise, everything was silent. "Good." He turned toward the chuunin standing next to him that had apparently woken him up. "Now, where's Ino? She's supposed to take over now."

Suddenly, a hand appeared, stroking his jaw gently. "But I'm right here, honey." Gradually, the arm and body of a blonde kunoichi formed, hanging over Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Must you be so troublesome?" he groaned, noting the glares and awkward looks he was receiving from some of the genin.

"Aw, don't worry, dear. I'll be out of your hair in a moment." She kissed his cheek before letting go and walking around him, grabbing his hand as she passed. Then, she scanned the gathered ninja, and her eyes narrowed. "Damn, Shika! Were you sleeping through the test again? You let an awful lot of these gaki (brats) through. I swear, I leave you alone for two minutes, and you go and slack off like this."

"I'm just as surprised as you are," he whispered into her ear, trying not to let the genin get overconfident or worried, "If anything, I made the test this year even more difficult than last time."

"Hm…Well, it's not a problem." She smirked as she addressed the genin. "Hello all. I am Nara Ino, your second chuunin examiner. I hope you're ready for a challenge because I can almost guarantee that less than a third of you will remain after I'm through with you."

There was a third wave of murmurs through the crowd of seventy-some shinobi that still remained. "What's that supposed to mean?!" demanded one ninja heatedly.

Ino smiled softly at her. "You'll see. For now, follow me to the location of the next exam." Without another word, she walked out the door at the back of the room that the failures had left through, giving Shikamaru a soft peck on the lips, a wicked smile, and a whispered, "see you tonight," before leaving. The chattering genin followed after.

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After a short walk, the group of genin stood facing the remains of a 2-3 mile wide section of city. Everywhere buildings were crumbling and decaying into rubble. Most of the walls stood half destroyed or with large holes in them. Very little in the area seemed to remain structurally safe.

And the only thing that separated them all from the place was a large fence.

Ino turned around to face them all. "Welcome, everyone, to what I like to call The Keep. It is a former section of Konoha that was attacked during the last Sound invasion nearly ten years ago. Reconstruction was attempted but called off when a collapse killed six of the workers, and it became apparent that more such collapses would follow."

"Now we use it as a training ground and, in this case, a place to hold a chuunin exam, in which you must be aware of your enemies as well as your dangerous surroundings. As you can see, we have constructed a large series of gates to enclose the two and a half mile wide square that this test will take place in. In addition, you will find tunnels weaving underneath the whole area that were dug for various reasons. Most of these are structurally stable, but I recommend you stay wary."

She paused temporarily to take a breath. "You all signed the contingency agreements, correct?" she hollered so all could hear.

Various murmurs of "Hai" answered her.

"Good. Now, let me explain what you'll be doing in this next test."

She brought her hands up, holding two gears, one labeled 'Mechanics' and the other 'Power' as she began. "Each team will receive one of these two items and a gate number to enter through. Your goal, once you get inside The Keep, is to obtain one of each of the two parts of the mechanical device that will open the enormous gate at the opposite end of the training area, where you will be allowed to advance to the third and final exam. You have five days to get through that gate or you will fail. Any questions?"

A single hand rose. "Yes?"

"You said it was likely that only a third of us would make it past your exam," began Tounyo in a confused tone, "But given what you have told us, it would be possible for half of us to advance. Why are you so confident that so few of us will advance?"

Ino smirked at him. "You don't think that some of the mechanisms will be lost in the five-day limit? Or that some people will end with only one of them?"

"Hm…Fair enough."

"Any more questions?" All remained silent. "Alright, now get in line with your teammates to collect your materials and good luck with the exam." As chattering broke out again amongst the genin, Ino sat down behind a desk beside one of her chuunin helpers.

Slowly, a line formed, and teams started picking up their gears and traveling to their designated gates. The blonde examiner smiled as a blonde and two raven haired genin approached her.

The young blonde kunoichi grinned widely. "One of each gear and a gate number please!" The two behind her rolled their eyes.

Ino raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Sorry, Hina-chan, but I can't cheat for you."

Hinashin gave the jounin her best puppy dog eyes, complete with overly large bottom lip. "Not even for your own son?"

Ino looked past Hinashin at Rokuden, who stood there looking bored. Then, she looked back at the extremely energetic blonde in front of her. "No, not even for my own lazy son."

The genin pouted as she took the item for her group, along with a piece of paper with the gate number on it. As the team started to walk away, Ino called her son. "Roku-kun, hold on." Rokuden stopped and turned around to find the blond jounin up and walking around the desk.

He sighed as she embraced him. "Mom…"

"Good luck, sugar." She released him and kissed his forehead. "You'll need it."

As she walked back to the desk, Rokuden staring after her, Hinashin's voice erupted behind him. "Awww."

The raven haired genin turned with a mild glare at her. "Shut it, you." The blonde burst out laughing as she skipped toward the gate her team was given, the pair of males following sedately behind her.

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A short while later, all the teams stood in front of their respective gates, waiting for the test to start anxiously. Many groups were discussing what was coming. One such group was Team 4.

Hitayio laughed excitedly. "Dude, this is gonna be awesome!"

Rei tossed the Power gear they had been given, smirking. "It should be easy enough."

Hotaru glanced between the two nervously. "But what if something goes wrong?"

The male genin waved the comment off. "Aw, that won't happen. We'll come out hard and be the first ones to the goal!" he declared confidently, laughing again afterward. His two teammates stared at him, one almost just as confident and one with worry.

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Another such group was Team Tenten.

Shan bounced on the balls of her feet. "What are we going to do? We never discussed a plan with Rokuden-kun!"

Hato sighed as Nebin responded in complete seriousness. "We go to where they're going."

"But we don't know where they're going!" protested the bowl cut kunoichi.

The redhead stared at her blankly as the Hyuuga turned away, feeling such a comment beneath answering, even from his own teammate. "You're right," began Hato as simply as he could, "We don't _know_ where they're going. But we _can_ make assumptions based on what we know about Rokuden-kun's normal plans."

Shan gave him a confused look. "Then, where would they go?"

"To the exit gate," answered Nebin before Hato could respond. The redhead nodded in agreement. "There, we'll set up an ambush and take out the first few teams that get there, thus disposing of some of the stronger enemies while we have the advantage of numbers. Or so I assume Rokuden has planned."

Shan pumped a fist into the air. "Yosh! To the gate then!"

"Hai," said Hato dully, relieved that his female teammate finally understood, at least somewhat, what they needed to do.

The group turned together as the entrance gate beside them opened. "Let's get going," commanded Nebin as he lead the other two through the gate and took off at a run as they reached what remained of the street of the ruins.

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"Alriiiiiight!" shouted Kizui as he leapt off another roof to the neighboring one, the roof he had been on collapsing as his foot left it. He laughed as his two teammates were forced to jump off of the falling debris behind him.

"Damn it, Kizui, cut that out!" demanded Tounyo as the white haired genin leapt off another roof, only to have it collapse after his feet left it. "This is no time to be abusing your powers!"

Kizui laughed as his allies almost tumbled down with the debris behind him. "But this is fun!" he yelled back.

"What a pain," groaned Taru, "Quit so we can plan what we're going to do."

The white haired genin frowned, releasing his kekkei-genkai. "Fine." He skidded to a halt on the next roof, his allies following his example. "But I already _know_ what we're going to do," he stated, grinning at them.

The pair stared at him blankly. "And what would that be?" asked Taru after a few seconds.

Kizui's grin grew wider. "We ambush the ambushers!" he exclaimed.

The other two blinked at him. Then, Taru brought her hand up to her chin in thought. "Ya know, that's not half bad."

Tounyo nodded. He looked back to his energetic teammate. "I'm surprised Kizui. You were actually serious for once and came up with a good plan."

Kizui grinned back. "I have my moments."

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Taka landed just outside the door of one of the many run down buildings. Her teammates landed behind her as she walked inside, examining the remains carefully. The place seemed mostly in tact with a second door leading deeper into the compound, although half of the room above them had fallen through to their level.

She turned back to her allies as they stepped in. "Will this do, Katame-chan?"

The other two watched the blue haired kunoichi impatiently as she took her time looking around and scrutinizing everything, even taking the time to jump up to what remained of the second floor. Finally, she stopped in front of them, looking satisfied. "It'll work."

"'Bout time," muttered Hari irritably.

"Good," stated the redhead, bringing her fist up in front of her face, "Now, let's do it!"

An awkward silence ensued, in which the pair stared at Taka, one in amusement, the other blankly.

Finally, Hari broke the silence, trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. "That sounded so wrong."

This earned him a punched to the back of the head. "Just shut up and start setting up the ambush," Taka commanded, her eye twitching furiously.

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The leader of the black clothed Kiri shinobi team ran through the streets of The Keep, his teammates not far behind. He turned his head slightly as he spoke. "Let's split up here. We'll each _observe_ one of these rookie teams and see if there are any that Otokage-sama might find useful. Report to the exit gate in exactly two days. I'll take care of getting the two gears."

The other male on the team looked at him curiously. "So, who gets what team?"

The leader shrugged. "Take your pick."

The kunoichi on his other side smirked. "I call the team with the two guys!"

The leader rolled his eyes, turning to the swordsman. "Any preferences?"

He thought for a moment before half smiling. "I'll take the team with the green haired boy. His blue haired teammate…intrigues me."

The leader smirked. "That leaves me with the purple head's squad. Just the team I wanted." Without any farther conversation, the three split up to track down their respective targets.

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((Not much action, I know, but that'll be _more_ than made up for in the coming chapters, I promise you that. And to those of you that have given me cameos: don't be surprised if you receive a PM sometime soon. I've been going back over the characters to make sure I have them down, and I've noticed a few things I would like to change…Most of this has to do with combat/pushing some of their jutsu back to after my approaching time skip. (I don't care if it's slightly clichéd thanks to the original series…I want the characters to be more mature!)

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I would appreciate it if you would drop off a review.

SSF out.))


	13. Roar Team Kiba

((Alright, I've got this done on my self-appointed schedule

((Alright, I've got this done on my self-appointed schedule. Without further ado, let's get things rolling.

Disclaimer: I do so enjoy writing fanfiction…Unfortunately, that means I don't own the real thing. T.T

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**Roar Team Kiba**

Tsukino Hotaru was a shy girl. Usually quiet and reserved, she was an average student back at the academy and, by all rights, an average ninja for her age. Then again, most genin her age didn't have a kekkei genkai, a bloodline. As far as she knew, only one of her former classmates, aside from herself, had one.

Granted, most of her classmates had family jutsu that they could draw from. Or at least, most of them that had become genin and weren't sent back to the academy. She, herself, had family jutsu that were related to her kekkei genkai.

The very kekkei genkai that caused her to receive fearful stares from those that knew about it, which, by now, was most of the adult population. Thus, she turned in on herself, becoming the very shy and insecure girl that she now was. She thought that she couldn't let people learn about her, or they would fear her, as had happened in the past, so she tried to keep information to herself.

This, of course, had been blown out of the water in the past few months when she had been put on a three man team. Kiba-sensei had already known to begin with and had merely accepted her for who she was and not feared what she could do. This attitude, he said, applied to most of the village's chuunin and jounin, though she couldn't be certain herself.

Then, her teammates…Hitayio had been…well, Hitayio. He simply didn't care. Rei…

Hotaru sent a furtive glance at her cat nin teammate, who was currently leading them along. The two were so much alike and yet had come out so differently. She had become shy and quiet, while Rei had remained true to her name, cat-like.

Hotaru shook her head violently. Now was not the time to be thinking like that. They were in the middle of an exam. She needed to be focused and ready for anything!

Rei chose that moment to stop on a roof, the other two landing next to her. Hitayio gave her a slightly confused look as she seemed to sniff the air quietly. She then pointed to the edge of the roof in front of them before motioning downward, telling them that someone or something was down in that alley.

Hitayio crept to the indicated edge and briefly peered over it before sneaking back to them. He pointed in that direction before pointing to the three of them, saying that there were three genin down there, and shrugged, telling them he didn't know who they were. He pointed at the edge again before bringing his hand up to imitate a walking person with a smile on his face. A moment later, he brought his other hand down to 'chomp' on his walking hand, making a gruesome face to go with it, indicating that the enemies had an ambush set up.

Felina rolled her eyes at this humorous display as Hotaru had to suppress a giggle. As usual, he had gotten the message across, while lightening the mood.

After he had banished his smirk, he motioned to Hotaru and pointed at his eyes, nodding his head in the direction of their foes. The purple headed girl nodded her understanding of what he wanted her to do.

She blushed as both of her teammates watched her take a few steps toward the ledge. She was comfortable with them, yes, but she still wasn't used to being the center of attention.

She ran through a short set of hand signs, along with a slight murmur.

"Yuureijingan!" (roughly: Eyes of Ghostly Population)

Her eyes turned a bright silver as her kekkei genkai took effect. A few moments later, three screams resounded throughout the area.

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Shino sat in the special jounin lounge, vaguely listening as Kiba and Konohamaru discussed something trivial. He wasn't interested in such things. He was busy thinking about the situation of his genin. Or more specifically, the proctors for the exams they were currently in.

He didn't know who they were; he hadn't checked, which seemed uncharacteristic of him. Then again, being given command of three genin had changed him drastically, in more than one way.

Either way, he knew the chuunin exams wouldn't be easy. It never was. Frankly, his team had been lucky it was taking place in Konoha this year, or he wouldn't have let them take part. They weren't ready for such a trip. They hadn't even been out of the country yet, much less to another hidden village.

"So, who were the first two examiners exactly?" This question caught Shino's attention. He looked up to see a blonde kunoichi with a Suna hitai-ate standing at the door.

"Temari-san!" exclaimed Kiba, "What a surprise! How'd you get in here?"

"We let her in," stated Tenten as she stepped in behind the Sand nin with Lee right next to her.

"Yes, yes, that's nice," the blonde began arrogantly, as usual, "And I thank you for letting me in, but back to the matter at hand. Who did I leave in charge of my genin?"

"That would be Shikamaru-san," declared Konohamaru from his seat. Temari grunted.

"That lazy ass? Is it really safe to put him in charge of children?"

Shino decided to voice his disagreement. "Shinobi cease to be children, no matter their age."

"I know that but-"

As the group began a discussion on the topic, Shino returned to his thoughts. _"With Shikamaru as examiner, the test would most likely be tactical."_ He paused in his thoughts. He knew they would be able to pass such a test without much difficulty. Taka had her Nezumi no Jutsu, and Katame was good at it on her own. As long as Hari was able to stick with one of them, there wouldn't be a problem with such a test.

Shino came back to the conversation as Tenten spoke. "It doesn't really matter. Shikamaru won't keep them long. He's too lazy. They may already be on to the second exam."

"Okay," began Temari, "Then who's in charge of that one?"

Konohamaru once again declared his knowledge. "That's Ino-san."

"How do you know this?" inquired Kiba irritably.

Konohamaru grinned widely. "I'm the grandson of the Sandaime and former advisor to the Godaime. What do you expect?"

The majority of the room rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, if it's Ino-san, then the test will be, what, the Forest of Death?" conjectured Temari thoughtfully.

"Close, but not quite" responded the youngest jounin, "It's a similar test, but it's going to take place at the ruins from the last Sound attack."

Tenten's eyes widened. "You're kidding! That whole pace is falling apart! Not to mention the village secrets that are down there!"

The honorable grandson waved it off. "I'm sure Hokage-sama took care of it, or she wouldn't have allowed the exam to take place there."

The brunette bit back her retort. Worrying always did make her edgy. Instead, Kiba spoke. "Like the Forest of Death? Ha! Then this test should be easy. I bet all of our teams will pass with flying colors!"

"My thoughts exactly, dog-breath," smirked the blonde Sand nin.

As the pair broke out in a small argument over nicknames, Shino couldn't help but hope that these exams didn't turn out like their own Forest of Death experience. It wouldn't bode well for there to be another 'Gaara' running rampant with the genin.

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Hitayio laughed loudly as he leapt over the ruined roofs. "Man, that was too easy. That team practically pissed their pants when Hotaru used her jutsu on them!" he shouted back to his teammates, who were following him closely. He took out the small metal 'Mechanics' gear they had received after their brief victory from his shuriken holster.

Felina took out the 'Power' gear they had started with and smirked. "Now, all we have to do is get to the finishing gate, and we're done. We'll probably be the first ones there!"

Hotaru looked around nervously. "Shouldn't we be a little quieter? We may be attacked."

The other two both waved it off. "Aw, don't worry, we can take anybody that attacks us," stated Hitayio matter-of-factly.

"Besides, I don't smell or hear anybody nearby," added the cat nin, "We're safe for now."

The purple haired kunoichi let out a soft sigh of relief, obviously glad to have that information. Her face then became more supportive. "I suppose it's okay to be a little loud then…"

The redhead grinned. "That's more li-"

He was cut off as, quite suddenly, something connected forcefully with his side. He was thrust sideways and slightly downward by the attack, flying through a nearby ceiling and landing two stories down, below an already destroyed floor.

Hotaru watched in horror as this happened. What _had_ happened? She looked to where he had been standing to find a black clothed older Mist nin smirking at her and her female teammate, and one thing ran through her mind.

How?

How was he fast enough to do such a thing to Hitayio? How had this man evaded Felina's keen senses? How was he _that_ good as a mere genin?

She was brought back from her thoughts as her brunette teammate growled furiously at their new foe. "How dare you!" That same foe raised an eyebrow at the noise as if daring the pair to try something. The cat nin snarled even more viciously as she pumped chakra into her fingernails, causing them to grow to nearly five inch claws. A second later, Hotaru gasped as her teammate rushed forward to attack.

The Mist nin watched in amusement as she charged. When she came within striking range, Rei swung her dangerous claws at him, only to have him dodge with relative ease. She swung twice more without success and growled in frustration.

She was shocked when her opponent didn't waste any more time and ducked under her next swing, sweeping her feet out from under her. Before the brunette had even made it halfway to the ground, she felt a powerful kick to her side and flew through the same roof that Hitayio had.

Hotaru watched in pure terror as the opposing genin dropped his foot back to the ground calmly. Hitayio had been taken out before he could even do anything, and Felina couldn't even manage to scratch him! What could she, the weakest of the three, do to help?

Her fear increased ten-fold as the Kiri shinobi turned his gaze on her. She cowered where she stood as he approached her calmly. He stopped a few feet short of her and stared into her terrified eyes. To her surprise, all he did was motion toward where he had knocked her teammates.

"Go join your friends." His tone was serious but not overly foreboding. "Unless, of course, you'd like me to kick you down there as well."

Deciding it was best to do as told, she jumped across the buildings to join her companions. As she landed on the roof, the ground beneath her gave out, causing her to fall to the ground below, twisting in the air to land with little fuss.

She immediately went over to check on the two piles of rubble she knew were probably her teammates. After moving a few large rocks, the two came up groaning. Hotaru let out a sigh of relief. They seemed okay for the most part. Nothing seemed broken, and they were standing like normal, if hurting a little. In fact, it almost seemed as if the enemy hadn't _wanted_ to harm them. Nevertheless, she was glad and encouraged by the fact that they were alright.

"Suiton: Issui Eiei no Jutsu." (Water Release: Water Pulling Jutsu)

A water main beside where the team stood ruptured, spewing water on the floor at a rapid rate, the flow seeming to be directed toward the center of the room. Hotaru turned around to face the voice nervously as her teammates looked up, finding the Mist nin standing there in the last sign of the jutsu.

"Welcome to Bangai Hason's personal Hell," he said darkly.

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A team of Rain shinobi stepped into a room with a half collapsed second floor above them. The leader glanced at the door opposite the one they had entered from, finding nothing else interesting in the area.

"We'll rest in the center of this compound," he said in a commanding tone, "We'll wait for a few days until all of the strong ones are gone and all that remain are frustrated and desperate before we strike." His two teammates nodded their acceptance of that strategy.

A form hiding in the shadows above smirked, already preparing its single seal jutsu.

Behind the Ame leader, his two allies nodded, following him toward the door across the floor. As the leader started to cross the threshold, he was shocked when his entire body connected powerfully with something completely solid, knocking him on his rear.

In a matter of moments, chaos broke loose.

Beside him, the largest team member let out a scream of pain, falling to the ground in a heap, clutching his seemingly unharmed stomach. He immediately began begging with an unseen force. "No! Please! Don't!" He screamed again, now writhing on the ground in pain.

At the same time on his other side, his midget of a teammate yelped, panicking, as he was dragged into the ground up to his neck. He struggled in vain against the solid earth that held him in place firmly.

The leader stood up, looking around warily. He gasped as a blue haired Leaf kunoichi jumped down from the floor above, taking up a defensive stance. He immediately thought that it was useless as she had already taken out his teammates with very little effort. He tried to banish these thoughts but failed miserably, the fear showing through in his eyes.

The girl walked up to him gracefully before sticking her hand in front of his face, causing him to flinch visibly. "Hand over your gear immediately."

The Rain nin brought his hands up in front of his head defensively. "Alright! Alright! Just don't hurt me!" He reached into his shuriken holster and produced the requested gear.

The kunoichi smirked when she saw the 'Power' kanji written on the object, taking it from him firmly. Beside the pair, the largest Ame shinobi went still on the ground, ending his painful wailing as he lay there breathing deeply, obviously alive but not moving.

Not bothering with any further conversation, the blue haired kunoichi walked past the leader and, to his immense surprise, walked _through_ the wall. He stared at where she had disappeared, his mouth agape with shock, until his ally, who was still stuck in the ground, spoke.

"Well, there goes that plan…"

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It _hurt_! What 'it' was, Hitayio wasn't entirely sure. For all he cared, it was _everything_. He didn't pay much attention to it. He was too used to the feeling to care any more.

Yet, when he had stood up, rubble falling from his damaged form, his legs still threatened to give out underneath him. He scowled angrily at the limbs.

"Suiton: Issui Eiei no Jutsu." (Water Release: Water Pulling Jutsu)

That's right. That bastard had taken a pot shot at him when he wasn't paying attention. He raised his eyes to the older Mist nin in fury. Oh, he would pay for that. He would definitely pay.

"Welcome to Bangai Hason's personal Hell."

Hitayio pulled out a kunai, ignoring the burning sensation that happened whenever he moved. He thought, briefly, that the first strike may have done something to his spine before dismissing the idea as unlikely.

He glanced at his teammates to find Hotaru, completely unharmed but fearful, and Rei, mostly just dusted up it seemed. He turned back towards his opponent, noting off-handedly how water was now up to his ankles, to see him already working on another set of hand seals.

There was no way he was going to be holding back his teammates. _They_ should be relying on _him_. He knew he probably shouldn't think like that just because they were girls and he was a guy, but he couldn't help it. It must've been his inner chivalry poking its unseen head out from where it was hiding. Nevertheless, the thought allowed him to ignore the pain he was feeling and take action.

Without another thought and without hand signs, the redhead Shunshined behind this 'Bangai Hason' and swung his kunai, attempting to decapitate him. With one fluid motion, the Kiri shinobi ducked under the swing and swept Hitayio's legs out from under him with a leg of his own. As the Konoha nin began to fall, his enemy spun, standing up as he did, and planted a strong boot in the center of the redhead's chest, sending him flying into the wall with a powerful thud, causing small parts of the roof to collapse from above.

However, Hason didn't get a moment's peace as Rei was already in his face, slashing away with her extended claws. After dodging the first few with ease, he ducked under one of the higher swings and his hand shot up to catch the back of her wrist. He smirked as her eyes went wide, starting to spin once more, causing her feet to lift off the ground. After about one rotation, he released her, launching her into the wall next to Hitayio, where it had much the same effect it had had with her male teammate.

Getting impatient, Hason restarted the hand signs he had previously been interrupted in the middle of. His eyes went wide when a semitransparent figure appeared in front of him, wearing what seemed like samurai armor, its sword already drawn. He was forced into a back-flip as the figure attacked with a high horizontal slash, creating a small whooshing sound that made it clear that it was perfectly capable of harming him.

Silently cursing for getting interrupted yet again, he rushed around the figure in a blur of speed that it obviously couldn't follow. He was behind it before it had even started to move. With deliberate slowness, he brought a kunai over his head and slammed it down to pierce the samurai's head.

To his astonishment, the ghostly figure's sword came up to block the jab with the flat of the blade, all without even glancing behind it to locate the attack. Anger engulfed him. He should be able to finish off this unknown quickly and without a problem!

He withdrew his kunai from where it was in contact with the sword and dropped into a kneeling position, already thrusting his knife towards the samurai's back. However, he was foiled again as his enemy rotated into a parry, continuing to rotate until its back was once more facing Hason. Irritated at being underestimated by, of all things, a samurai, the Mist nin used the momentum from the parry to start his own spin, adding power to the kick that he proceeded to plant on the spirit's back.

To his surprise, the grunt of pain that followed came from, not the samurai, but behind him. A second later, as the spirit shot away from the impact, a second, fully visible body flew past him. As the ghost hit the wall, knocking up a cloud of dust, the visible body stopped with a sudden, invisible impact as well, as if hitting the same thing the spirit was. The form fell with a splash into the ankle deep water with a pained groan.

Hason's eyebrows raised as eyebrow as he came to a conclusion. _"That must've been some sort of jutsu…That purple headed kunoichi somehow connected herself to the spirit so that both would do the exact same action at the same time. That's why the spirit was leaving his back open to me, so the girl could see what was happening and act accordingly. The only question I have is 'How'?"_

As the dust from the ghost's impact with the wall cleared, he noticed that the samurai was gone, and it seemed to take some effort for the female genin to push herself to her feet, the sword from her back now in hand. She must've gotten the courage to attack him from the fact that her teammates were still fighting even after what he had done to them. _"It won't matter though,"_ he thought as he noted that the other two genin were also back on their feet, the cat-like kunoichi now with blood dripping down her lip, _"The result will remain the same."_

"What's wrong? Too scared to let me finish the jutsu?" he inquired mockingly as he restarted his hand signs for the third time, "It's not like it's going to kill you." He smirked.

Hitayio snarled. "Whatever it is, it can't be good." He glared at the older nin viciously. He was obviously strong…But so were they. "Rei, Hotaru, we're taking this bastard out _now_. Together."

"But-"

"No 'but's Hotaru," he interrupted, already pulling out another kunai. "Just fight." And he rushed forward, Rei following suit, both creating heavy splashes in the water at their feet. Reluctantly, Hotaru initiated her own set of hand signs.

"Too late!" shouted the Kiri shinobi, landing on his final seal as the Konoha genin came within a few feet of him. "Hibiki Myaku no Jutsu." (Sound Pulse Jutsu)

A small wave burst into life in the water at his feet, speeding toward the three teammates at a velocity much too fact for any of them to keep up with. Hotaru watched in horror as, as the wave swept past her allies' feet, they began to fall into the water with a cry of pain. With what little time she had to react, she jumped into the air, watching with slight relief as the wave went under her harmlessly.

However, as she landed once more, she felt both of her legs cramp up as they entered the water, causing her to fall to a kneeling position herself. As her lower thighs entered the small amount of water that reached them, they, too, cramped up painfully. She thrust her hands at the ground as she lost her balance on her knees, once more having the muscles that entered the water tear themselves with pointless strain.

It was then that she realized that the water seemed to be the cause of it. She forced herself not to roll over twitching onto her back in pain, instead pushing herself back into a kneeling position so that only her legs would hurt. Wincing against her protesting muscles, she looked up to see Hason holding the single hand sign he had ended on.

"Now, you're all at my mercy."

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"That was _way_ too easy," grinned Hari at the center of the compound where they had set up their ambush.

Taka raised an eyebrow. "It _did_ take a Yamazaru Isshiki no Jutsu (Monkey of the Zodiac Jutsu) from me, a Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusions: False Surroundings Jutsu) from Katame, and a Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu) from you."

Hari frowned slightly, scrunching his eyebrows so everyone could tell past his mask. "Yeah, but that's still only one jutsu per enemy. They just seemed a little…weak."

"Maybe they were just that pathetic."

"No," intervened Katame, "We caught them off guard." Taka gave her a 'so what' look. "As soon as they realize what happened, they'll give chase."

Taka looked shocked and about to protest when Hari released a resigned sigh. "What should we do then?"

The redhead gaped at him. "I thought you would be with me on this!"

The masked genin let some amusement come to his eyes. "And I thought you'd learned how Katame thinks by now." As the kunoichi continued to stare incredulously at him, he shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

The Koudoukou waved a dismissive hand, looking away. "Fine. Whatever. I'll follow whatever you two want to do since I'm out voted."

Hari turned toward their other teammate. "Katame-chan?"

The blue haired kunoichi came out of her thoughtful gaze. "We go where we'll have the advantage…Underground." The pair looked at her in confusion, prompting her to explain farther. "They are old escape tunnels, just like the ones in the rest of Konoha, so we know the basic design of the area." Realization dawned on her teammate's faces. "I expect the proctor didn't want foreign shinobi to know that and memorize the layout of our tunnels."

Taka brought a hand up to her chin. "That makes sense. One question though: where's the entrance?" She motioned around the crumbling room, noting how there were no ways downward.

"Uh…Taka-chan…" She looked over to see her male teammate bent over, tapping on a wooden panel under his feet.

The redhead rolled her eyes, becoming irritated with all that had happened, and pushed him off of it onto his rear unceremoniously. She quickly opened it up to find a ladder leading down into darkness. "Let's go then," she demanded, already starting to climb down herself.

Shrugging, Hari stood up and followed suit.

After her teammates were gone, Katame stood there for a moment. She could sense another presence vaguely but couldn't locate it. She glanced upward, in its general direction, suspiciously. Finding nothing, she stepped onto the ladder, closing the floor panel as she left.

On the other side of a door leading into the room, a black clothed figure let out a sigh of relief where it stood hidden in the shadows. That girl had almost seen him on the ceiling. It had been a miracle that the form had gotten out in time. It sighed, entering the room again.

One thing was certain: the blue haired genin was _good_.

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Rei pushed herself up onto all fours, clenching her teeth against the agonizing pain induced by the Mist nin's strange jutsu. Her muscles cramped up, only moving through shear force of willpower. She would _not_ be defeated by this stranger. She didn't care how strong he was; her lion's pride would not allow her to quit.

But one thing stood nagging in the back of her mind: where was Masaru?

She had specifically told him to check in every five minutes; it had been ten since she last saw him. She knew she shouldn't worry at a time like this, but she couldn't help it. What if this opponent had found him and taken him out while he was alone?

No. That wouldn't happen. That _couldn't_ happen. Masaru was too good for that.

"What're you going to-urk-do to us now?" grunted Hitayio in defiance. Rei looked over to see him trying to stand and failing miserably. With a start, her mind returned to her own pain, causing her to flinch slightly.

Their opponent raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry. I just want to talk." He started walking toward Hotaru at a casual pace with his hands still holding the last seal of the previous jutsu, glancing at the struggling male shinobi as he passed. "And I recommend you kneel. The jutsu'll be less effective then, and you'll have the widest base possible, while staying relatively aware of what's going on."

Hitayio snarled at him, only redoubling his efforts to stand up. After a few more attempts, as Hason came within a few feet of the now terrified purple haired kunoichi, the Konoha nin yelped as nearly the whole of his body fell into the water. As he returned to kneeling, he growled at his opponent. "What the hell kind of jutsu is this?!"

Hason smirked where he stood in front of Hotaru and explained as if talking to her, though loud enough for the other two to hear. "There is a certain frequency of sound, much higher than the human ear can detect, that causes muscles to contract and chakra flow to disrupt. This jutsu is a constant flow of that frequency." He sighed briefly. "Unfortunately, it requires a constant flow of chakra to match the flow of sound. That's why I like to have water for me to use my jutsu through; it transmits the waves much easier. That's also why I have to keep my hands in this hand sign. So that the flow will continue." He paused to crouch down closer to eye level with the girl in front of him. "As long as I stay out of arms length, there's not much you all can do. But don't worry; the water's leaking into the room below us, so I'll have to cancel the jutsu soon enough."

Hitayio scowled at his back. _"Who says I can't do much?"_ he thought furiously, beginning a set of hand seals where he was kneeling. Almost immediately, pain shot through his body as he found himself halfway under water with a foot planted on his back.

"Ah, and no jutsu," stated the Mist nin as if it were a rule of life. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Unless, of course, you _like_ pain." The Leaf shinobi grunted in pain. "Good." The foot lifted, allowing the redhead to push himself back onto his knees.

Hason walked back toward Hotaru, obviously slightly more cautious than before. "But enough about my jutsu. He crouched down in front of the purple headed kunoichi once more, staring into her frightened pink eyes with his own brown careless ones. "I'm curious. What was that jutsu you used?" No answer. "Was it a kekkai genkai?" Still no answer. His eye twitched. "Are you going to respond or should I start threatening people?"

This seemed to bring her from her fear induced shock. Her teammates seemed to have resigned themselves to waiting for the water to drain away as they remained still. She lifted her head up to look past him, trying to reduce her terror if only slightly. "Y-yes," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

Hason's eyebrows rose. "A kekkai genkai?" The Konoha kunoichi nodded, wincing when it caused her muscles to burn even more. The Mist shinobi looked thoughtful for a moment before turning back to her. "And what does this bloodline do for you?"

She seemed hesitant to tell anything more. He had to wait nearly a minute, almost losing patience, for her to finally answer, and, even then, she did so timidly. "I-it allows me to see the s-spirits of the d-dead."

He stared at her thoughtfully before smiling slightly. "Interesting. And your jutsu take advantage of that fact?"

"H-hai." She looked towards the ground in half embarrassment, half fright.

"Alright!" interrupted Rei from where she was, "She's answered your questions. Now, you answer ours!"

Hason stood up and looked over his shoulder at her, his hands still in that hand sign in front of his body. His eyes narrowed slightly. "…Very well."

She paused slightly, as if taken aback by the response, before asking what was at the forefront of her mind. "What did you do with Masaru!?"

The Kirin nin turned fully to face her with a confused expression. "Who?"

The cat shinobi clenched her teeth angrily. "Masaru!" she snarled, "The panther you ambushed before attacking us!"

Hason's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?...I haven't seen any panther."

Rei looked absolutely shocked at that. It took a few seconds before she could finally respond. "…What?..." After another few seconds, she narrowed a suspicious glare at him. "You're lying!"

The Mist shinobi shrugged. "Believe it or not, it's the truth."

The neko kunoichi grit her teeth in frustration. He could be telling the truth, and Masaru ran into other trouble. But he could also be deceiving her, and Masaru was already dead. She couldn't place a reason behind such a deception, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. It was an internal struggle between hope and fury that she knew wouldn't end until she saw her partner.

"Are there any more questions?" asked Hason in a mildly mocking manner.

"I have one," declared Hitayio irritably. The Mist nin nodded for him to continue. He did so without delay. "How were you able to get past Rei's enhanced senses? It didn't seem like she could detect you at all." Rei made a slight supportive nod, though she was obviously lost in thought.

The Kiri shinobi smirked slightly. "That's a constant effect jutsu of my own invention. It creates small sound vibrations around the whole of my body that nullifies, or at least muffles, all sounds I make aside from speaking. It also disperses my scent to the point where it is virtually nonexistent by forcing air particles to collide with the scent molecules I create. It's a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea."

He looked over at the redhead to find him staring at him like he was crazy. He sweat dropped anime style. "Okay, so maybe you don't get it…" The two stared at each other a few moments before Hason became irritated and broke off. "Are there any more questions for me or should I resume the battle?"

Rei, now out of her worry induced trance, looked at him with a grin. "Yeah, I've got one." The Kirin in glanced at her curiously, silently telling her to continue. She did so immediately. "Are you ready to get your ass kicked?"

Her enemy's eyebrows rose. "How are you-?" He started, only to be interrupted by a black figure coming from above him, lashing out at his front. He was forced to leap back, releasing the sign his hands had previously been in or get slashed, thus dropping his jutsu. He watched warily as the black form bounded towards where Rei was slowly standing up massaging her sore muscles as her teammates did the same where they were.

"Where were you, Masaru!?" demanded the cat nin angrily. The black form, now obviously a panther, growled in return, causing Rei to scowl at it. "I know you couldn't smell anything dangerous, but you still should've checked in!" The wild cat growled again. "What do you mean you didn't see any reason to!? I told you to!"

Hason turned to the other two Konoha shinobi with a confused expression. "Is she talking to a cat?"

Hitayio shrugged. "Yeah, it's part of her family jutsu, having some kind of connection with a wild cat."

The Kiri nin raised an eyebrow and turned back to the arguing beast/human pair as the human snarled at the creature. "Whatever! We'll talk later on this!" She looked over at her opponent. "Right now, we've got an ass to slash."

Hason smirked at her. "You really think you can?"

Rei smirked back. "We'll just see, won't we?"

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Halleluiah, it's done. I loved writing this, but it was a bitch trying to keep all the cameos in their character. I still don't think I did it correctly with Rei (whose name I had previously messed up on and will be going back to fix). Now, for apologies:

To those who reviewed with cameos, I apologize if you think your character is OOC. I also apologize if you think your character is a little weak, though you should keep in mind that the team was fighting a jounin level opponent while they're only genin in this chapter. I apologize to Toshito for the lack of her character in this chapter (trust me: next chapter will make up for it…I think).

I can't wait for these next few chapters! I have them planned out already (for the most part anyway). I especially can't wait for the one on one battles. They're going to be of epic proportions, so don't expect some of those battles I've seen in other fics where all of the Naruto chuunin prelims take place in one chapter. I'm betting that each fight takes up a whole chapter!

That's enough randomness…

SSF out.


	14. Teamwork, What a Wonder

((I know you're probably tired of hearing apologies from me, but, once again, I'm sorry

((I know you're probably tired of hearing apologies from me, but, once again, I'm sorry. This was late. _Extremely_ late. Unfortunately, I was forced into getting a job by my dad, which took away nearly all the time I had for editing and typing my story. On top of that, I had to read the entirety of Ivanhoe, in all its 500 page glory, in about two weeks recently. Thus, my lack of updates. I still have the job, but school is out for Christmas Break, so I should be able to type at least a little more…until I get the Wii on Christmas anyway. So, Happy early Holidays.

**Disclaimer:** Je n'ai pas le Naruto. (Technically, it says 'I don't have Naruto,' but I don't know the French word for 'own' so it'll just have to suffice.)

Anyway, enough from me. Onward!))

**Teamwork, What a Wonder**

"_Right now, we've got an ass to slash."_

_Hason smirked at her. "You really think you can?"_

_Rei smirked back. "We'll just see, won't we?"_

"Seireishiryoku no Jutsu!" (Spirit Sight Jutsu)

Hason glanced over to see Hotaru, with blazing silver eyes, with her hands set in the final seal of a jutsu. A second later, a mass of semi-transparent beings formed throughout the damaged room, together blocking his view of all three Konoha nin. He immediately went on guard.

If these things were like the other spirit she had summoned, he would be in a bit of trouble. If he hit one of them and they _all_ moved when she did and vice-versa, he could end up forcing an entire mass against himself. Not to mention the fact that if she could summon _this many _soldiers, she _had_ to be powerful. He smiled wistfully. Otokage-sama would like that, but it certainly didn't make his job any easier.

Then, he noticed something: the spirits were _moving!_ And not in any uniform way. In fact, they were moving in completely random directions, some of them even flying up into the air while others went through the floor. Many of them were walking through _each other._

Suddenly, a form walked through _him_ from behind, making his eyes go wide. He felt across his chest briefly, finding it to be perfectly fine. He realized then that the ghosts weren't in the physical world in the least. They were just a distraction!

He quickly spun around, expecting an attack from behind. This guess proved correct when as he did so, a netting and bandana clothed figure launched itself through a translucent figure at him. He ducked, causing the five claws to fly over his head. He came up, preparing for another attack, only to find that the figure had disappeared into the ghosts again. He scowled. He was a sitting duck with only his senses and reaction time to rely on. That was not good for him. He would have to use his hearing.

Closing his eyes, he channeled chakra to his ears, increasing the strength of his hearing. He was from Oto, after all. He was just in time to jump out of the way of another strike. He frowned. He could only hear one person. That didn't really bother him since he guessed the others were just as blind as he was, but he knew the cat-nin wouldn't be. And neither would her pet panther. So, why was only the panther running around on all fours in the small amount of water?

He didn't have more time to think on it as he was forced to jump to dodge an attack from that very same cat. He sailed through the air only momentarily, but in that instant, pain shot through him. He grit his teeth, eyes shooting open, only just registering the cuts across his back. He was more interested in knowing who had done it to him.

He spun in the air, only just catching sight of the neko-nin disappearing into the crowd of spirits-

-On top of the water.

Of course! She had been channeling chakra to her feet so that she wouldn't splash in the water! What made things more amazing was that, since he knew he could normally hear such a thing, she seemed to be timing her steps perfectly with her animal companions', making her own nigh silent. Hason grinned. That meant all he had to do was disrupt the loud one in order to find both.

Closing his eyes again, he waited for the panther to come within striking range. Soon enough, it did, and once so, it only took opening his eyes to be able to effectively counter. He ducked under the initial swing, which seemed to stun the beast, and brought his arm in a heavy upper-cut, knocking the animal up and out of the room they were in to land on the roof.

Moving quickly, he sprung through the transparent beings, thus avoiding any possible attack the brunette Leaf kunoichi had planned for him. A second later, he stopped, instantly closing his eyes to help amplify his sense of hearing. The cuts on his back had become mere scratches in the back of his mind at this point, though he knew they would need medical attention if he was going to have full mobility again. He was too busy with the thrill of combat. Too busy hearing…

…Nothing.

The cat-nin seemed to have gone into stealth mode, most likely thinking up another strategy that could be used against her opponent. He scowled, deciding that enhanced hearing would do him no good at this point. He scanned the ghosts around him for any hints of true flesh. Finding none, he came to the only logical conclusion.

He had to wait for them to make the first move.

He was helpless without his eyes and ears, which, for the moment, they had taken away from him. Thus, he decided it was best if he examine the gashes in his back. They weren't that deep, but they were irritating, mostly due to the fact that they limited his mobility. Bend forward and he would open up the wound more. Bend back and it might cause the wound to heal wrong.

He would have to get medical attention from a Konoha medic-nin.

He scowled at the thought. He was here on a mission, and the Leaf were the enemy! He didn't want their _help_!

Nevertheless, he would have to get it if he was going to complete his objective. He knew of their reputed kindness to foreign shinobi and trusted them enough to let the treat him.

But that was all.

Besides, to get that treatment, he would have to get through these twerps. He rolled his eyes. If they kept going like this, that could be annoying.

"Dendouinin no Jutsu!" (Electric Charge Jutsu)

Hason looked toward the male voice, only to have white-hot pain shoot through him. His insides felt like they were on fire, his muscles flared in protest, and his mind ceased to function properly as his nerves were overloaded by pain and all he could think about was the torture he felt.

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was gone. Hason fell to one knee, breathing deeply as he slowly recovered. His muscles still burned from the convulsions caused by the shock, and his insides felt…off…but he would live.

He looked up as the ghosts around him disappeared. In front of him, Hitayio stood attached to the wall with chakra, the curved blood-red sword from his back now in his hands pointed downward into the water, allowing for an electric current to flow through it into the few inches of H2O that remained. The genin looked up and grinned at him.

"You should be honored! I don't take out my Shoujouhi Hane (Scarlet Wing)-" He brought up his blade to point at the older genin, emphasizing what he was talking about. "-for just anybody." He smirked as he dropped from the wall to the ground. Two more splashes could be heard as his teammates did the same from adjacent walls.

"Now," the redhead continued, "Unless you want to feel that again, I suggest you hand over your gear and leave."

Hason glared at him, clenching his teeth.

Mistake one: putting him through that horrible experience. Mistake two: dropping the Seireishiryoku no Jutsu! (Spirit Sight Jutsu). Mistake three: thinking they had won against a superior opponent and dropping their guard.

These kids really were mere genin.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to make them pay for their mistakes.

The Mist nin smirked slightly as he gazed at the male Konoha shinobi. "No."

The redhead's eyes narrowed. "Then-" Before he could even say the second word, his opponent disappeared in a Shunshin. He immediately felt the heavy breathing of his enemy on his neck. His eyes went wide as, for the first time in a long time, pure, dreadful fear engulfed him. This enemy was much too fast, even for him.

He started to spin, knowing full well that there was little he could do, and received a powerful chop to the base of the back of his neck. He went flying in a disgruntled heap, landing a few feet away like a pathetic rag doll.

As the other two started to react, Hotaru gasping and Rei dropping into a more battle-ready stance, Hason Shunshined again, this time behind Rei. Her eyes went wide as she jumped forward, doing a one-eighty in the air. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do against such speed; he was in her face a moment later.

She doubled over when his fist collided with her stomach, followed almost immediately by a right hook to the face, powerful enough to knock her unconscious. Her limp form rocketed into the wall, utterly destroying it. Along with the wall, the ceiling started to crumble, and it soon became obvious that the structure was collapsing.

Hotaru panicked. She had to get out. She couldn't let herself be crushed by rubble. She looked around. The only safe way out was up, to the area that Masaru had already been knocked in. She started to jump-

-But stopped.

What was she doing? She was a Konoha shinobi! She couldn't leave her allies behind! That wasn't the way of the Leaf!

She spun around, already starting the short set of hand seals she required for her to use a Shunshin. She finished and was instantly beside Hitayio. She snatched up the body and leapt up out of the way of a falling slab of roof. She had to get him to safety! Then, she could go back for Rei, if she was still alive…

No! She couldn't think like that! She _would_ go back, and Rei _would_ be alive.

She leapt past the falling debris onto the neighboring roof, gently putting down Hitayio. She turned, intent on heading back for her other teammate, and paused.

There, in front of her, stood Masaru with Rei's prone form on his back. Hotaru fell to her knees in relief. She was alive! Rei was alive and safe! It was a miracle! Masaru, a godsend!

Hotaru pushed herself up and crawled forward as the panther laid his partner on the ground softly. She had to make sure she was okay. She immediately checked her pulse, sighing in relief when she found it strong. She proceeded to examine her for broken bones and other injuries. Finding none that were too serious, she leaned back, biting her lip. She didn't know how to check for brain damage, and that was what she was most worried about.

She was startled when Masaru growled next to her, facing behind her. She rotated where she sat, only for her eyes to go wide in horror. Hason was there, standing over Hitayio's unconscious form casually. In his hand was the gear that the boy had been carrying.

Anger welled up inside the purple haired kunoichi, mixing with her fear. She wanted to yell out at him to get away from her friend but was too scared of provoking him. She wanted to charge him and force him away but was too frightened by his power to try something so foolish.

Instead, she settled for standing up and glaring.

"Don't be so hyped up," commanded the Mist shinobi off-handedly. "I'm not going to do any more damage." He turned around slowly, pocketing the gear. "Though, I'm taking this." He patted his pocket in indication.

Hotaru didn't care. He could've taken both gears for all she cared. She just wanted him to leave. She wanted to treat her teammates. She glanced worriedly at Hitayio.

Hason noticed and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry; he's fine." She looked at him with cautious hope. He sighed. "He'll have a pretty bad headache when he wakes up though."

He brought his hand up to his forehead and shook his head. "I'm sorry about all the damage I caused. I really didn't intend to take it this far, but I let my rage get away with me." To the Konoha nin's surprise, he looked truly remorseful. Then, it was gone, replaced by an impassive visage. "Anyway, I'll be going. Take care of your team for me, or I'll feel bad." With a brief wave, he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Stunned beyond belief, Hotaru just stood there, staring at where the Kiri nin had been until she was nudged back to reality by Masaru. Blinking, she set to work treating and moving her teammates to a more secure location.

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A team of early teenage Rock shinobi sat, hidden in the ruins of a building, watching a group of three foolish Leaf nin start through the minefield of traps they had set. The one in front smirked as the front tree hugger, with baggy pants, stepped over the first trap, traveling farther into the danger zone.

The leader sat with light ginger hair and a smirk on his face below his hitai-ate, confident in the snares they had set. His t-shirt and pants clung tightly to his muscular form.

To his left was a female with brown hair tied back in a single bun behind her head, looking calm and content. Her slender form was covered almost entirely by thick wool or her hitai-ate, which hung on her neck.

To his right sat a monster of a genin, even at only 14 years of age. His enormous muscles were only covered by a vest and pants. His hitai-ate, however, was tied around his forehead, covering the entire top half of his head. A giant club hung on his back.

Together, they watched the Leaf ninja walk through their gauntlet.

…And walk…

…And walk…

…And walk…

Finally, with his eye twitching in frustration, the front Iwa nin threw a kunai at the trapped area, snapping one of the many tripwires. In a flurry, trap after trap activated, flinging kunai, shuriken, and senbon in every direction around the stunned Konoha genin.

Almost immediately, weapons connected with the two rear tree huggers, causing them to poof away, showing them to have been nothing more than normal Bunshin. The third was lost to sight behind the mass of projectiles.

Almost a minute later, after all of the traps had gone off, the team of Rock genin stared in awe at the form of the Konoha shinobi that stood, unharmed, amongst the destruction. Only the kunoichi among them ignored it, choosing to focus on finding his teammates. However, even that didn't last long as her attention was grabbed when the Leaf nin's baggy pants fell unceremoniously to the ground from cuts along its belt, revealing blue boxers with a repeated picture of a hammerhead shark with the words 'Hammered Head' written underneath it. Other cuts made themselves known along his loose shirt, creating numerous holes and slashes in it and even completely cutting off one of the sleeves.

The Rock kunoichi blushed slightly as her teammates continued to stare in shock. When the boxers wearing shinobi looked down at what was left of his clothes, a shout rang out from his mouth.

"What the fuck!?"

Cursing under his breath, he bent over and picked up his pants in a pointless effort to keep himself covered as the belt of the clothing could no longer grip his waist. When he let go of them, looking around, his pants fell back to the floor, causing another round of cursing to issue from his mouth.

It was at this time that a powerful punch and two slashes simultaneously hit all three of the Iwa team. The kunoichi and ginger stumbled backwards, crying out in pain with bleeding wounds to the stomach and shoulder respectively. The most muscular member of the team was sent flying by the hit to his side, flying directly into a nearby pile of rubble, completely obliterating it. The other two quickly joined him as he stood up, shaking off the dust, seemingly untouched.

They looked to where they had been, finding three Konoha ninja, two of which were exactly the same, obviously a form of Bunshin. They were the exact same forms that they had seen with the baggy pants nin, both blonde in basic ninja garbs, one of each gender.

The male spoke first, shaking his hand in front of him to relieve it of pain. "Dang. What're you made of? Rock?"

One of the female forms sighed, brandishing nails that were sharpened into claws. "Can we just get this over with, Tounyo-kun? It's such a pain…" complained the one. The other growled animalistically in agreement.

Tounyo rolled his eyes. "Alright, Taru-chan." He dropped into a fighting stance, his right hand in a fist near his stomach and his left out in front of him with fingers spread with widened legs so that his body was centered. "We'd better start then."

Both kunoichi crouched, making a hand sign. "Shikyaku no Jutsu!" (Beast Mimicry: All Fours Jutsu) (same as Kiba's) whispered one as the other growled ferally. Chakra spiked around them viciously. All three blondes charge forward.

The redheaded Iwa nin smirked. "Jetto-mu-chan…Blow them away."

"Hai," responded the brunette, already going through some hand signs. A moment later, she finished on her fourth hand seal as the Konoha genin came within striking range.

"**Wind style**Hitofuki no Jutsu" (Wind Gust Jutsu)

Instantly, a powerful wind picked up around the six, seeming to accelerate even more as it passed by the Iwa kunoichi. All three Leaf shinobi were lifted off the ground and blown back to their original location, where they skidded to a halt, relatively unscathed.

Taru groaned as she stood back up. "Joy…Anti-taijutsu techniques…What a pain," she muttered just loud enough for Tounyo to hear. The male blonde smiled apologetically and shrugged before looking back at their adversaries.

"Did you really think it would be that easy, fools?" shouted the redhead, "We are Iwa nin! We can't be defeated by such primitive means." The speech was made less impressive by the fact that he was still bleeding profusely from his shoulder.

Tounyo sighed. "Let's wait until you get hit by this 'primitive' attack to pass judgment, shall we?"

The muscular Rock nin bellowed a short laugh. "I barely even felt the punch you gave me, wimp!"

The Konoha boy looked at him with an amused half-smirk. "Look at your side, genius."

The giant did as told and was surprised to find a fist-sized red spot that had swollen a few inches. He snarled angrily. "How did you get passed my Doton: Ganbansukin no Jutsu?!" (Earth style: Rock Skin Jutsu)

The male blonde smiled apologetically again. "That is classified information, my good sir."

The monster of a man looked furious. "Under what pretext?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

Tounyo grinned. "The common sense that no wise ninja would ever give up their secrets to their enemies."

The muscular man looked absolutely livid as he reached for the club on his back. "You're dead," he declared in complete seriousness.

"No, Shusen-kun," commanded the Iwa leader sternly, "You're only giving him what he wants by getting angry."

"But, Kazan-kun-"

"We have no need to rush…This foe is obviously one who takes advantage of his opponent's mistakes. Becoming enraged will only cause you to make more of them."

Shusen relaxed slightly, allowing his hand to fall from the grip of his club. The Konoha genin smiled wistfully. "You got me there. But you'll still make mistakes. Everyone does. I just have to find and take advantage of them."

Kazan smirked. "Just try it."

Unfortunately for him, one of the blonde kunoichi had already rushed forward with a soft growl. The Iwa kunoichi had begun a set of hand seals and the female Leaf nin had no intention of letting her finish. Suddenly, a giant club came in a sweeping arc at the cat nin, forcing her to dive out of the way. As she regained her footing, she looked in the direction of the brunette to see the giant genin between them. The Taru growled angrily.

"You're not touching her, wench," Shusen declared with finality.

Tounyo rolled his eyes. "I think you're forgetting something." The massive genin looked at him in confusion as he half-smiled in amusement. "There are two of them."

By this time, it was too late for either of the males to react to the blonde kunoichi now coming from behind them. The other two had been the distraction while this tree hugger slipped away unnoticed to ambush them. Kazan now realized this. Yet, the opponent was already coming into striking range of his companion.

"Teikiatsu Kikou no Jutsu" (**Wind style**Cyclone Armor Jutsu) Jetto-mu said as she landed on the last hand sign, glancing briefly at her approaching foe. As Taru lashed out, the winds around her target picked up once more, this time only enough to make the blow glance off the back of her left shoulder. The momentum, along with the extra push from the gust, caused the neko nin to stagger a few steps passed the wind user. She tried to turn around to attack again but was caught by the scruff of her neck and lifted off the ground, letting out a small 'Meep!'

She struggled fruitlessly against the grip of the tank as she was spun to face her teammate and her partner. "Let-me-_go_!"

"Not a chance, wench," responded the human tank.

The other Taru let out a feral growl as she saw her human companion held aloft helplessly, starting to rush forward in an attempt to rescue her partner. However, when she got close, the large Iwa nin gave her a swift kick to the stomach, knocking her back towards Tounyo. Shusen grinned victoriously, not even flinching at the kicks to the stomach he was being given by his new prisoner.

"Now that we've got a hostage, you can give us your gear."

Tounyo clenched his teeth. That plan had backfired. He had intended to make the guys see their kunoichi ally fall, causing them to be disheartened or enraged, either would work. Instead, he had gotten his teammate captured by alerting his enemies to her presence. Now what was he supposed to do? He needed a plan to rescue her!

He noted how he could see the brunette making more hand seals out of the corner of his eyes and prayed it wouldn't be an offensive jutsu. He knew he had only one chance: stall. He couldn't come up with a strategy before they became impatient, so he had no choice.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. Mistakes here could mean his ally's life. He began speaking cautiously. "…You Iwa nin surprise me. I didn't expect to see a wind user from your country."

Kazan grinned. "Though rare, they are incredibly useful to our village. We take full advantage of their abilities."

Tounyo raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I can understand why, considering your village is on a mountain, right? Wind would make a formidable defense there, combined with the difficulty of climbing and your famous Doton jutsu."

The redhead smiled weakly. "Close enough."

"Enough talking," intervened Shusen irritably, "Give us your gear, or she dies." He lifted her up further, even as she continued to struggle, to emphasize his point.

The Leaf genin bit his lip nervously. He noted worriedly that Jetto-mu had finished her jutsu and was starting on another, though he had no clue what the first one had done. _"Now what?"_ he thought apprehensively.

His answer came in the form of a battle cry.

"Uwraaaaaah!"

For once, Tounyo was glad Kizui had no common sense. His attack shout provided just the distraction he needed. As the three Rock nin looked toward the noise, the medic nin rushed forward, not willing to waste his chance.

Kizui launched three shuriken at the foes, not at all concerned with hitting his female teammate thanks to his kekkei genkai. To his surprise, the only blow that landed was on the muscular Iwa shinobi as the weapons headed for the other two seemed to be blown just off course, and the attack that _did_ land ricocheted off the giant like it had hit solid metal. Kizui scowled as he started to descend from where he had been in the air.

Tounyo reached his target just as Mr. Muscles started looking away from the new nuisance and pumped chakra through his body before planting his feet and punching the wrist that held Taru. The muscles in his arm contracted, releasing the kunoichi as the Rock nin was sent into a brief, uncontrolled spin.

Taru was sent flying passed the other two Iwa genin, where she was caught by her clone. She hissed violently as she was placed on her feet once more. "I'll get you back for that later, Tounyo."

Said genin was busy leaping back to avoid the swing of a giant club, as Shusen had regained control of his limbs, joining Kizui in the process. The blonde smirked sideways at him. "Nice distraction, Kizui-kun."

The white haired boy, who now had his pants back on, grinned widely. "I'm good at that sort of thing."

A bellowing roar echoed throughout the area, drawing their attention back to the monstrous genin. "None of you Leaf's will leave this battle alive!" vowed Shusen, fiery anger in his eyes.

The redhead behind him sighed, his female teammate standing still beside him having finished her jutsus. "Take the boys, Shusen. And try not to do anything stupid." He turned around to face the formerly captive blond kunoichi and her partner, smirking. "I'll show the kitties _my_ jutsu." Tounyo saw the cat nin and her clone go on edge before turning back to his approaching opponent.

"Got any ideas, Tou-chan?" whispered Kizui in an abnormally quiet voice for him.

The medic nin sighed. His ally used his joking nickname, even when in this serious a situation. Oh well… "Nope. I need to see more of their strategy first."

His ally grinned, starting the short set of hand signs to activate his kekkei genkai. "Then, let's have some fun!" He finished the hand seals with a fierce shout. "Sunbyou Kizui!" (A Moment of Good Fortune) He charge forward recklessly with another battle cry, already pulling out kunai and shuriken, leaving a stunned Tounyo in his wake.

The blond watched intently as Kizui leapt into the air, launching weapon after weapon at the oncoming human tank. Each attack flew straight at the Iwa nin's face, only to be blown just off course by an unseen force, leading Tounyo to believe the enemy had the same sort of wind barrier Jetto-mu had used earlier. What made it hard to read was the fact that, no matter which side the objects assaulted, they were always blown _away_ without Shusen moving a muscle separate from his normal charge.

Obviously, the extra defense was coming from a different source.

Before he could analyze farther, the Leaf nin realized, to his horror, that his adversary would reach his ally while he was still in the air, and he was too far away to do anything about it. He watched in terror as the enemy raised his enormous club with a furious cry and swung it down on Tounyo's best friend, connecting solidly with his stomach, knocking him backwards like a rocket, with a grunt of pain, straight at Tounyo.

With a snarl, he brought his hands up and caught his teammate by the back, the momentum forcing both of them backward, skidding a good distance. With the help of some chakra channeled through the blonde's feet into the ground, the two of them stopped gradually, causing the medic to end up breathing somewhat quickly afterward.

"Damn it, Kizui! Did you _have_ to get so close to him?" he demanded, punching the white haired genin weakly in the back.

Said genin only laughed. "Oh, come on! We're both fine, aren't we?"

Tounyo glared at him. "Only because you got lucky he didn't hit your rib cage. Otherwise, you'd be a strangled mess of internal bleeding!" He looked up as he heard their opponent approaching, snarling. "Well, whatever. I'm going to need you to distract the big guy again, while I test a theory." Kizui nodded. "And, this time, don't get too close!" His teammate only grinned at him before rushing forward with another battle cry.

The blonde watched a moment as a few kunai were launched, only to be blown astray helplessly. Then, he got started with his plan, making a circular run around the two combatants to stay out of the danger zone. As he got passed them, he bolted toward the Iwa kunoichi, who was simply standing there, halfway between her two teammates, making the odd, seemingly pointless hand sign every now and then. She saw him coming but still didn't do anything about it.

As he came within ten feet of her, he felt a sharp pain penetrate his left shoulder. He spun, skidding to a stop, to see two more kunai flying straight at him, trying to join the one in the back of his shoulder. He gasped as he went into a reflexive dodge, causing one to soar over his head and the other to whiz under his arm.

Realizing there were no more coming, he spun back around to see the Iwa kunoichi with a single hand sign and amplified winds around her, blowing the two weapons headed towards her into the ground firmly. As she released the hand seal and made a new one, the wind slowed but did not entirely die out, as her waving clothes and occasional stray hair indicated.

Tounyo silently cursed his teammate for relying so much on his kekkei genkai as he pulled the kunai from the back of his shoulder before it could do any more damage, starting to charge Jetto-mu once more-

-Only to receive a powerful club to his side, propelling him into a nearby, already halfway destroyed wall, which somehow managed to stay standing. With a tortured groan, he fell to one knee.

"Fool." The blonde looked up to see Shusen between him and his target, speaking. "You can't get past me."

Tounyo frowned as his teammate walked up beside him. "Sorry about that," said Kizui, somewhat seriously, "Something drew his attention in your direction."

The blonde shook his head sadly. "You couldn't have done anything anyway." His eyes narrowed. He didn't get it. How could such a big guy move so quickly without him noticing? He hadn't been moving that quickly before.

Vowing to find out more, he started examining his own injuries. To his chagrin, his already damaged arm wouldn't respond, apparently out of socket. He stood up and glanced at his enemies to make sure they hadn't moved, clenching his teeth. An instant later, he made a whipping motion with his shoulder, creating a soft pop as the joint was relocated, causing him to grunt in pain. It was then, as he saw the surprised look on Shusen's face, that he realized that he was lucky to have been taught anatomy in his early medic nin training or he may have been crippled by that until he could have gotten treatment at the end of the exam.

"Any new ideas, Tou-chan?"

The blonde sighed, scanning their foes. _"Their whole style is based on covering for each other," _he thought, _"And now that the big guy knows who I'm targeting, I won't be able to get around him…"_ It was then that he saw movement on the opposite side of their adversaries. Looking more closely, he found Taru rushing toward them, evidently having figured out that the wind user was the centerpiece of their opponents' strategy.

He couldn't help the smirk that crawled onto his face. He returned his attention to the two Rock nin in front of him to find them unmoved, Shusen seemingly unwilling to stray too far from his ally now that she was targeted.

"Yeah, I do," he finally replied, drawing Kizui's curious stare, "Same as before, only this time, I'll join you."

The white haired genin nodded, almost immediately letting out a war cry as he leapt into the air once more, launching more projectiles, which he had started pulling from pockets in his pants rather than his numerous, now empty holsters. Tounyo started forward as well, watching with half an eye satisfactorily as Taru came closer and closer to striking range.

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Taru was shocked. Her opponent had a kekkei genkai. A _powerful_ kekkai genkai that allowed him to control earth and fire at the same time, thus creating lava. _Lava!_ How was she supposed to counter _that?_! She couldn't even touch the stuff, much less get close to him, even _with_ Hana's, her tiger cub's, help!

She snarled again as Kazan brought up more magma from the crater he had made with his opening jutsu. Every time she got close, he would create a magma wall that he would then use to push her back. If she stayed away, he would throw orbs of the molten rock at her, which he called 'lava shuriken'. She had thus come to the conclusion that she must attack and find a way around his wall.

With a silent command, she started forward with Hana at her heels, dodging around the set of lava shuriken he had made from his latest batch of magma, being sure not to get close enough to be caught on fire. As expected, a molten wall appeared between her and her target well before she reached him.

Nonplussed, she leapt straight upwards with a silent command to her companion. A second later, Hana gave her an extra push that sent her over the height of the magma barrier. She took pride in the shocked look Kazan gave her as she started to descend on him.

Before he could regain himself, Taru was upon him, swinging her sharpened nails. However, as they got closer to his flesh, the wind barrier that had been put on him began blowing harder, pushing the claws off target. In the end, she only cut a gash in his upper arm.

She leapt back again as he counterattacked with his good arm, bringing the lava from the wall he had formed a few moments before into shuriken, which he launched in her direction. She flinched as she felt the heat of one of the weapons burn her leg when it got too close as she retreated a few more steps.

Her normal laziness had long been left behind in favor of fighting for her friends. She was proud that that she had gotten passed his defense and a good cut on his arm. Too bad it wasn't enough to make him any less potent. That wind barrier had made sure it _couldn't _be a crippling blow.

She scowled as she dodged a few more attacks. He had a second defense! And it obviously came from Jetto-mu, so it didn't matter what she did to him; it would remain in effect. It was then that she came to yet another conclusion.

She had to take out the wind user.

She had put a barrier on both herself and her volcanic friend. That probably meant she had put one on the tank as well, which gave him a second defense too. If the wind user was out of it, each enemy would be down to their lone style, giving Taru's team the upper hand.

All she really had to do was get away from her current opponent, who didn't even deem it necessary to give her any room to breath in as he threw lava shuriken at her left and right, apparently irritated at having been injured. The cat nin gave a silent command to Hana and waited for Kazan's attention to be drawn to the clone.

As the redhead turned away from her to defend himself, she rushed off in the direction of the other battle, which was a fair distance away, though still visible. As she approached, she noted that Tounyo had seen her coming and went into a distraction for her. She took a satisfied breath when the muscular shinobi fell for it, leaving her with a free shot at his female teammate. Then, they could take out the magma user and gang up on the big guy.

"Funka no Jutsu" (Eruption Jutsu)

She immediately put on the brakes as a cone of molten ash and rock burst into life in front of her, skidding to a stop just six inches short of it. She jumped back as lava started to fall from the sky around the small eruption dangerously. She spun as she landed to find  
Hana in close taijutsu on a now seemingly tired Kazan, who seemed to be dodging and cursing under his breath and was being forced backwards by the attacks, towards Taru.

Realizing he had just used a lot of chakra on that jutsu and that she had the full advantage in close quarter combat and that now was the best chance she'd have to get within range, she charged the pair, ready to double team the bastard. Both Taru and her clone struck repeatedly, landing multiple small cuts but no heavy blows as the wind continued to defend her foe.

"**Wind Style**Shippuu no Jutsu" (Hurricane Jutsu)

A powerful cyclone of air picked up around Kazan, lifting both blondes into the air and throwing them a short distance away, where they landed, together, on their four limbs, skidding. She looked up, scowling, to see a sweating Jetto-mu with her hands held in a seal. A moment later, Kizui and Tounyo landed beside the cat nin.

The medic nin let out an exhausted sigh. "They have nearly impenetrable defense…" He paused as he saw the blood dripping down the redheaded Rock shinobi's arms and shoulders as the Iwa team regrouped, before half smirking tiredly. "Though it seems Taru-chan has gotten around it."

The neko nin looked at him with bored eyes, catching the key word, being 'nearly', in the previous statement. "You have a plan then?"

"Hai." He glanced at them, making sure he had his teammates' attention before continuing. "We split them up into 'one on one's."

Taru looked at him in slight confusion. "I know I was more successful than you two, but are you sure we can't take them together?"

Tounyo nodded. "I am. I hate to admit it, but their teamwork is on a whole other level compared to ours." The blonde kunoichi shrugged with her partner at her side, indifferent, having not fought in a battle where the Rock nin could use teamwork very much.

Kizui grinned. "So, who do I get?"

The medic nin sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "I'll hafta take the big guy as it seems I'm the only one that I _know_ can do any damage to him. Kizui can't fight the wind user because she can deflect his projectiles with ease, so you'll be best against the redhead. That leaves the kunoichi with Taru. You'll need to separate her from the others quickly as it seems that if her teammates are going towards her, she can use her winds to increase their speed. Sound good to you all?"

The cat nin nodded as Kizui yelled an energetic, "Hai!"

"Good." He took a deep breath before staring at the opposing team, who seemed to be preparing an attack of their own. "Let's get this over with then…" In unity, the four ran forward.

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((There. All good and done. And wha'd'ya know, it's the longest chapter so far. Just don't expect another update any time soon. I'll be too busy with my Christmas junk to do much writing/typing. Besides, I've pretty much given up on the whole schedule thing, since I can't seem to keep up with it. Things'll be posted as I get done writing them.

Anyway, drop a review in if you have any recommendations or complaints as I'm always open to new ideas. Heck, flame me if you like, though I don't see why you'd still be reading at this point if that's all you were going to do. There's even more fighting next chapter, so I can't wait. See you all next update.

SSF out.))


	15. Grounded Leaf

((It has come to my attention that a certain someone, who will not be named so that I will not spoil anything for those of you that don't know, has died in the series in Japan

((It has come to my attention that a certain someone, who will not be named so that I will not spoil anything for those of you that don't know, has died in the series in Japan. This someone also happens to have already been introduced in my story. In other words, this story has become AU.

It has also come to my attention that I have been making numerous mistakes in keeping people in character (coughShinocough), as well as the fact that I forgot to put in that the new Mist team is older than the others (as in 17-18 compared to 12-14), and am thus going back through my previous chapters to edit that. I may even decide to add a few scenes I've been thinking of while I'm at it. That's part of the reason it's taken me so long to finish this chapter. Once I finish editing the whole thing, I'll post it along with the update I finish it with.

On another note, I have realized how terribly incorrect my translations of the jutsu are. I know. Frankly, I don't care that much, nor do I think it really matters. However, if you are annoyed by this and would like to help me, feel free to PM me telling me so. I'm sure my readers would appreciate it. If any of you readers see mistakes, feel free to tell me about them. Actually, please tell me about them. (thank you Taru Toshito) I do love being criticized since it improves my writing.

Anyway…

**Disclaimer:** As always, I do not own Naruto, only the characters I create for the specific purpose of this fanfiction.

Now, on to the longest chapter yet!

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Hotaru continued to kneel beside a still unconscious Hitayio, looking down on him anxiously. A short distance away, Masaru, the panther, sat next to Rei's limp form, pawing at her worriedly every once in a while. It had been over an hour since she had taken them, with Masaru's help, to a small, sturdy building, mostly hidden by the two larger remnants on either side of it, both of which were in various states of ruin.

Worry etched her face as she wiped sweat from her brow. She herself was exhausted, and this apprehension was only making it worse. It had been a very long day, indeed. Yet, she knew she couldn't rest due to the risk of an enemy finding them. Worst of all, she hated sitting still, but she had nothing more to do that didn't involve leaving her teammates. She had already treated their wounds, which mostly only consisted of cuts and bruises dealt to Rei when she had impacted with the wall for the final time.

This waiting was just _killing_ her nerves, not to mention her mental endurance.

"Nngh."

Hotaru's head shot to her female ally, where the noise had come from. Slowly, the panther backed up, purring satisfactorily as its companion sat up.

The purple haired genin jumped up, rushing towards her. Thank Kami, she was awake! She knelt down beside her teammate, opposite Masaru. "Ano…Are you alright, Rei-chan? Do your injuries hurt?"

The brunette looked at her through half-dazed eyes. "I'll be fine." She seemed like she wanted to get up but couldn't quite bring herself to do so. Finally, she continued, "After I get some sleep." Without another word, she fell back to the ground and curled up into a ball on her side, drifting off into a true sleep.

Hotaru blinked at her before sighing. "Hai." She was immensely relieved to know that at least one of her allies was going to live, but she had hoped she might get a moment of repose herself once one of them woke up. She obviously needed it.

Then, she heard a laugh, which was quickly cut off. The kunoichi turned to see Hitayio, sitting up but holding his head as if in pain. He groaned. "Okay, no more laughing for a while…"

The purple headed genin was quickly by his side with a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Ano…Are you alright, Hitayio-kun?"

He nodded weakly before giving a small smirk. "I didn't know you cared so much, Hotaru-chan." He had to restrain his laughter when the girl blushed brightly, releasing his shoulder, in order to prevent his head from hurting again. Then, he became serious, a dark look coming to his face.

"We got our asses handed to us…" he stated simply, causing his teammate to look up from where she had been staring at the ground in embarrassment, "By one genin." He glared furiously at a corner of the room, unwilling to keep any semblance of a happy façade.

Hotaru stared at him with concern. "Ano…I do not believe he was only of genin level."

"He's here, isn't he?!" Hitayio spat, causing his ally to flinch. Seeing this, he took a moment to calm himself down before continuing. "He's in this exam, which only genin can enter." The kunoichi made no motion to object. "If we can get defeated by just one enemy of the same level as all three of us, we don't _deserve_ to be chuunin."

Hotaru felt like a barb had just been jabbed into her side. Not only did her teammate lack confidence in himself but in the whole team. Mustering up the last of her optimist attitude after such a trying day, she pushed the possibility aside. "Ano…Please don't say that…" she requested, eyes on the ground in front of her.

Hitayio glared at her a moment before softening his gaze. He wouldn't bring his companions down with his own damaged self-esteem. Especially Hotaru with her already insecure personality. "You should get some rest," he told her, "I'm sure you're tired after watching over our bodies for so long."

The kunoichi nodded thankfully. "Arigato." She stood and walked over to lie next to where Rei and Masaru were now sharing body heat.

"I'll wake you if I need anything," the redhead called after her.

"Hai," she mumbled as she started to drift off.

With him being the only one left awake, Hitayio strode over to the doorway of the building they were sheltered in. Staring at the darkening sky, he started to think.

"_What kind of genin squad loses to a single enemy?"_ He clenched his teeth angrily. _"Our kind apparently._" He balled his hands into fists. _"What good are we if we can't even do something so simple?! My own jutsu wasn't even able to take him out, even though it hit!...We may as well quit this exam before we get killed._ He laughed at the idea, causing him to flinch from the pulse of his headache. After a moment to recover, his thoughts resumed as he glanced back at his allies. _"But I can't force them to give up with me…If they want to continue, I will with them. I only hope they have some sense in them…"_

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Tounyo watched out of the corner of his eye as Kizui leapt into the air to launch projectiles yet again. Taru, as well as Hana in Taru bunshin form, ran beside him as the team of Iwa nin took up what appeared to be a defensive formation, Shusen forming a sort of human wall in front of his allies. The male blonde motioned for his fellow blonde to yield so he could go first as shuriken flew over their heads only to be blown harmlessly to the ground by the enemy's wind barrier. He had a plan to get the big guy out of the way.

As expected, when the medic came within range, the human rock swung his giant club in a mighty horizontal arc. With relatively little effort, Tounyo ducked under the attack and set up his own strike by planting both of his feet firmly on the ground beside the targeted tank.

With a powerful punch to the side that was blown slightly off target by the Rock kunoichi's wind, the blonde sent his chosen foe flying over multiple buildings to impact strongly with a pile of rubble.

Then, Tounyo shook his hand, jumping up and down comically. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He stopped as Taru ran by him, though he continued to rub his knuckles. "Dang, what _is_ he made of? That hurt!" he muttered under his breath.

Somewhat hesitant to leave his team and to fight such a foe, he took off after his opponent. He was almost out of chakra, too, and he knew it. He wasn't used to having to use so many punches without taking out his opponent. His foe's defense certainly was astounding. So much so that he was exhausting the medic's strength.

The Healer concluded that he had one strike's worth of chakra left within him, at most.

He would have to make it seriously count.

He landed next to the debris Shusen had landed in, wiping sweat from his brow, and waited. It didn't take long as, moments later, the rocks were pushed away, revealing the Iwa nin's large form, with a scowl on its face. "I don't appreciate that, shrimp!" he roared, tossing one of the larger boulders aside with one hand impressively.

Not the least bit intimidated, Tounyo smiled softly. "No, I didn't figure you would."

With a mighty shout the muscle man brought his humongous club down on the Konoha genin. The blond rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the attack, which left a giant dent in the earth where he had been standing, grimacing to himself when he realized he was slowing down.

Deciding he needed to end it quickly, the medic charged forward, hoping to get too close for the monster of a man to swing his club effectively. Unfortunately, he had underestimated his adversary's intelligence. Instead of the club, a fist came down in a jab that Tounyo was barely able to brace himself for, sending him skidding back, well out of the shorter nin's range of attack.

He remained there, kneeling, coughing as he tried to get air back in his lungs. Shusen towered over him. "You are a fool to think you can defeat me alone. You have no way around my defenses except to leave these little welts." He held up his arm where Tounyo had his him to free Taru from his grip to reveal the circular red mark that had been left. "And they don't even bother me."

The blond glared up at him in defiance, having regained control of his respiratory system. The taller ninja glowered back with contempt. "If you give me your gear, I _might _just decide to spare your life."

The medic smiled to himself. They had given the gear to Taru because he was too obvious a choice, being the one who made most of the team's strategies, and Kizui was too likely to simply lose it. Besides, she was trustworthy with it.

And the enemies would probably think he had it, as this one did.

Unfortunately, Shusen saw his smile and jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Then, I shall take it from your corpse!" With a loud grunt, he brought his club down on Tounyo's location.

The blond sidestepped the blow just enough to get out of the way. As he started forward, his foe's fist came around in an attempt to repeat what had happened only minutes before. The medic wasn't fooled again as he spun out of the way, thus coming within his own striking range.

Planting both his feet, he thrust his fist forward and upward, hitting his foe's chin forcefully, sending him into the sky. He watched apologetically as the giant man's limp form fell, unconscious, to the ground.

A second later, Tounyo dropped to his rear due to chakra exhaustion with a sigh. He massaged his hand subconsciously to relieve the pain there as he stared at the unmoving body.

"Sorry about that," he said to it monotonously, "I don't usually like hitting people's head because it has a chance of causing brain damage. Few craniums can withstand that much acceleration, even with a defense keeping the skull from being crushed." He paused, trying to hold back any emotions. They would only hinder him at this point. "Unfortunately, you left me little choice. I truly apologize if I ended your ninja career." He kept a single tone throughout, though his words really were sincere.

He merely realized that it had been necessary.

With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself up. He wobbled side to side as he walked toward the Rock nin. His chakra reserves were nearly empty, but he knew he still had a job to do. He quickly rummaged through his opponent's clothes, not surprised when he didn't find the gear, before hobbling off in the direction he thought his teammates were in.

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"Those bastards!"

Tsunade's head shot up off the desk it had been resting on. She looked at the source of the noise to find a furious looking Naruto with the door wide open behind him.

"Those bastards!" he repeated, slamming the door behind him and beginning to pace.

The Godaime sighed exhaustedly, temporarily, and happily, putting aside the paperwork she had fallen asleep on. "What is it this time, Naruto?"

The blond looked at her only momentarily before launching into the reasons behind his anger. "Those Edler Hyuuga-temes are trying to undermine Hinata's authority _again_! They oppose her at every damn turn just for the sake of challenging her power!"

He had Tsunade's attention. "Like they did against the removal of the caged bird seal ritual?"

"Exactly! And some of them had grandchildren that were going to get the seal put on them soon!-"

Before he could start ranting about the past, the Hokage brought him back to the present. What's Hinata-san trying to change this time?"

"Oh! The living quarters. She wants main and branch members to live in the same complex. I don't get what the big deal about that is!"

The Godaime stared at his furious face a moment before answering calmly. "It's actually a couple of things. For one, it's a long standing tradition of the Hyuuga clan, just like many of the other changes Hinata-san has enacted. Most people dislike, even fear, changes such as these."

"Second, the separation of Main and Branch houses in the Hyuuga clan is a statement of political influence. Taking that away is similar to taking power away from the Main branch."

"But only a few of the elders are from the Main branch!"

"Yes, I know. Which brings me to my final, most important, point. The fact that you, a demon container, are such a determining factor in her decisions."

Naruto's face became downcast for a moment before rage returned full force. "But I haven't been involved in any of it! I made a promise not to!"

Tsunade stared at him calmly. "I realize you haven't done anything in the Hyuuga clan _directly._ Seeing as how that was the requirement for you to marry Hinata-san, if you did, you'd be kicked out of the clan immediately. However, you are indirectly affecting clan politics whether you realize it or not."

The special jounin's face tilted sideways in his still childish expression of confusion. "Nani?"

The Hokage sighed, knowing that this would be a long explanation.

"Despite how you haven't done anything yourself, you _have_ been supporting Hinata-san, correct?" The male nodded, still lost. "By doing so, you are giving her the confidence to propose changes to the system. They are no stranger to her insecurity. They know that, without you, she wouldn't be doing any of these changes. She would be their puppet."

Naruto gave her another clueless look, making her fairly sure all of that had gone over his head. What he said next proved that at least somewhat incorrect, however.

"So, they see me as a threat." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact, proving that he had at least begun to understand politics.

The Godaime nodded. "They challenge Hinata-san's proposals in hopes that you will oppose them personally and give them an excuse to kick you out, giving them a pawn as clan head."

Naruto's facial expressions changed repeatedly as he tried to register all that the Hokage had said: anger, bewilderment, understanding, amusement, anger again, and finally, thoughtfulness. "Then…I should…" His visage brightened. "Continue to support Hinata-chan!"

Tsunade smiled, nodding. Despite how immature he used to be, and usually still was for that matter, he at least proved he could understand how other people thought.

She watched as he disappeared through the door, exclaiming a quick, "Thanks, Obaa-chan!" She smiled to herself. He certainly wasn't Hokage material…_yet_. Given a few more years, she felt sure he would make an excellent successor.

Suddenly, she heard a distinctly familiar male shout, followed by what sounded like multiple objects falling down the stairs below her. She sweat dropped.

Okay, so maybe just a decent candidate…

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Taru watched out of the corner of her eye as Tounyo took off after the human tank he had separated from the others. Satisfied that he would do his job, she turned her attention back to the front, her eyes going wide when she saw one of her team's opponents finishing a jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Magumahachi!" (Summoning Jutsu: Magma Cauldron)

The neko-nin leapt back, along with Hana, to avoid the enormous blast of chakra smoke. The mist slowly cleared to reveal the type of cauldron you saw witches using in those old timey plays. Yet, instead of unknown liquid, it held lava…a lot of it. Kazan smirked. "This technique gives me a more readily accessible supply of weaponry. Unfortunately, I have to use it quickly or it'll melt through the metal." He brought his hands up with a long, sweeping motion, grunting with effort, causing the entire mass of magma to rise.

Taru and Hana watched with cautious awe when the large glob started to break up into smaller, lethal looking needles. Kizui stood beside her, having given up on his projectiles, with his mouth agape.

"**Wind Style**Shippuu no Jutsu!" (Wind Style: Gale Jutsu)

Taru cursed silently as she noticed Jetto-mu out of the corner of her eye, holding a hand seal. Almost immediately, a strong gust picked up, hitting the Leaf shinobi head-on but doing little more than temporarily stunning them. The true attack came when the redhead released his control over the lava needles, causing the wind to take control of them, cooling them into rock and throwing all of them at the Konoha genin at high velocity.

Taru barely had time to gasp as she went into reflexive dodges, taught to her by many a battle against Kizui, while that same white haired genin stood immobile, too awed by the assault to move his own body. The cat-nin flinched when she received multiple spikes to her limbs and torso; she wasn't used to dodging so many weapons at once. The barrage ended with Hana, back in her normal kitten shape, lying on the ground with numerous cuts, Taru looking like a porcupine with all of the needles in her, and Kizui, who had kept his kekkei genkai active, physically untouched, shirt miraculously torn off, somehow leaving his umbrella on his back.

The neko nin scowled at Kizui-sometimes she hated that ability of his-before looking at her partner, who mewed weakly. The blonde snarled at her, starting to take out a few of the pointed rocks that were in her arms. "Quit complaining, Hana. I took more hits than you, and I'm still standing. Besides, I'll need you for the coming offensive."

The tiger meowed what sounded like another complaint, causing the blonde to roll her eyes, before standing back up.

"I'm honestly surprised you all managed to survive that. But that doesn't matter. You're too weakened to do anything dangerous now."

Taru turned to see Kazan smirking at them, already starting on more hand signs. The cat nin frowned, speaking out of the side of her mouth to her animal friend. "We're going to have to use it." Hana let out a warning growl, causing the blonde to scowl. "I know we're almost out of chakra, but we need to or the whole team may lose their chance of becoming chuunin." The kitten growled again, though this one was more relenting. Silently, watching as a couple kunai that Kizui had decided to launch flew past her, she brought her hands up into a seal-

-And her mouth fell open as one of the kunai pierced the molten rock wielding shinobi's arm, causing him to lose concentration on the jutsu he had started. Somehow, Kizui had gotten through their wind defense!

"Huzzah!" shouted the white haired genin, throwing another series of weapons. The male Iwa nin snarled, starting to dodge.

Taru smirked, seeing her opportunity, she activated her jutsu with a whisper. "Dyutora no Jutsu!" (Dual Tiger Jutsu)

Smoke engulfed both her and Hana with a soft 'poof'. A second later, two full grown white tigers rushed out, towards Jetto-mu at a speed even faster than she had been traveling before.

The Rock nin watched them approach, taking exhausted breaths. When she came within range, Taru lashed out, unsurprised when it was dodged with a little aid from the continuously weakening wind barrier she somehow managed to keep around her with her diminishing chakra. However, she was helpless against the powerful jaws of the second tiger clamping around her arm. Quickly turning around, the transformed Leaf shinobi did the same on the other side, and, together, they dragged their enemy into the ruins of a nearby alley, ignoring the shout of "Jetto!" that came from behind them.

They didn't get very far before, with a grunt, Jetto-mu increased the speed of the wind around her. Giving an animalistic noise of surprise, the two tigers began to spin, tightening their grip on their captive automatically, causing her to spin with them. The tornado continued to increase until, with the sound of tearing flesh, the beasts were sent propelling into the nearby walls, where they were de-transformed.

A scream of terrible pain resounded moments later as the whirlwind died down. Taru looked up from where she lay face down with blood running over her lip to find the Iwa kunoichi standing motionless, the bone visible on both arms where the teeth of the former tigers had taken massive chunks of meat with them when they were thrown away. The blonde kunoichi watched, somewhat deliriously, as the body collapsed in front of her.

Taru realized with a start that _she_ had done that and could still taste the blood in her mouth. Her stomach clenched dangerously, causing her to have to force herself not to wretch all over the sidewalk.

Sure, that technique made her a lot more feral, but she hadn't expected to go _that_ far. This girl could be _dead_ because of the animalistic ways that jutsu brought about.

She let out a choked scream as she curled in on herself, spitting the taste of blood from her mouth disgustedly. She was a monster.

"_No!"_ she told her mentally, _"Slow down. Maybe she's not dead. _No!_ She _can't_ be dead. That couldn't happen."_ She grimaced at her own futility, closing her eyes. _"Just don't think about it now. Think about something else. Like…Where's Hana?"_ She looked up, trying not to look at the body, and scanned the alley. She found her lying limp, in kitten form, against the wall on the opposite side of the path.

Glad to have something else to focus on, she struggled to her feet, wincing when her chest throbbed painfully. The cat nin slowly forced her body to walk toward Hana, only vaguely realizing she was shaking.

When she reached her companion, she immediately fell to her knees and picked up the kitten cautiously. After a quick check-up that found nothing wrong with the cub, she cuddled it to her chest and turned to lean back against the wall with an exhausted sigh, closing her eyes.

"What a pain…"

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Kizui groaned as he landed, searching through the numerous pockets in his pants. He couldn't find any more projectiles in them! He couldn't be out already! Then again, he kept most of his spares and limited number of senbon in his, now destroyed, shirt because they were harder to get to there.

He grimaced when he saw Kazan making hand signs in front of him, even with cuts all over his body. He _had_ to be running out of blood…right? The Konoha genin couldn't really tell because it was hard to see how pale the skin was through all the red clothing and liquid.

Getting desperate, the white haired ninja glanced at the ground around him for usable weapons. He found only one kunai, which he quickly snagged.

"Doton: Kakousoushi no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Crater Creation Jutsu)

He looked up to see the ground in front of the redheaded Iwa shinobi collapsing downward. Kizui frowned. Now, he knew he _couldn't_ throw the kunai in his hand because he didn't have the chakra to ensure a hit, much less to a vital organ, and he couldn't leave himself defenseless with this new development.

His enemy laughed, a strange scene due to the blood flowing down his face, as bits of lava started to come from the crater, drawing the Leaf nin's attention. "Y'know, this jutsu takes a lot more time than my Summoning Jutsu since I have to bring the magma up from the mantle below, but it requires so much less chakra. Guess it'll just make it cost less for me to return the damage you've done to me."

The white haired genin's eyes widened as a large mass of molten rock rose from the hole in the earth and started toward him. Knowing he couldn't dodge it, he slung the kunai at the attack desperately. He sweat dropped when it just sizzled out of existence. With a yelp, he threw himself on the ground and closed his eyes, praying his kekkei genkai would work its magic effectively.

A moment later, he felt a wave of heat overtake him, disappearing as soon as it had arrived…except around his rear.

He shot up and began running around, patting his burning ass as he shouted, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" After a few seconds of this, he tore his pants off and threw them to the ground, leaving him in nothing but his 'Hammered Head' boxers.

Panting, Kizui glared at Kazan, who had begun rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically. His eye twitching, the Konoha nin grabbed the metal umbrella from his back, pulling it up over his shoulder, and opened it in front of him. In anger, he channeled what was left of his chakra into the rain shield and his kekkei genkai and charged with a war cry.

Hearing this, the Rock nin got back to his feet and brought forth more of the mantle, which he then launched at his opponent. To his shock, the small amount of lava he could conjure with such short notice merely bounced off of the chakra-enhanced umbrella.

Almost immediately afterwards, the umbrella closed, becoming more like a club and was swung in an uppercut that the redhead hadn't been expecting from what was usually used as a ranged weapon with the attacker shouting, "Onnifujiyuu no Jutsu!" (Man Who Never Gets a Woman Jutsu)

Kazan's eyes went wide, his pupils becoming the size of pinpoints, and his mouth formed a pain filled 'o' shape as his little friends were crushed by the chakra enhanced metal umbrella. When the weapon withdrew, the redhead fell into the fetal position and began quivering helplessly, clutching his damaged family jewels.

Kizui glanced down on him before dropping to his rear, giving an exhausted sigh. That was the longest he had ever kept his kekkei genkai active. His reserves were no doubt nearly depleted. But he had won…

He looked at his cloth-less form.

Well, sorta won anyway.

"_Besides," _he thought sarcastically,_ "Now I can show Tou-chan my sexy bod!"_

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Katame came to a stop at a four way intersection, her teammates doing the same a step behind her. Well, she couldn't actually _see_ the pair because it was so dark underground and lights were scattered only every so often, but she knew who they were because she had been keeping track of their footsteps.

It was, however, useful that the wall torches that lit the path were spread to make every possible path visible. It allowed her to conserve chakra, having no need for a chakra flame, and kept them hidden from enemy eyes the majority of the time.

"Are we lost?" demanded Taka in an annoyed tone.

"Just let Katame-chan do her job, Taka-chan. I'm sure she knows where she's going," replied Hari, completely trusting his blue haired ally.

The genjutsu user didn't turn around but could tell the redhead was gawking at Hari. Katame figured that she was probably still irritable from the encounter a few hours back, perhaps even heightened by the silent traveling they had gone through recently.

"Well, whatever. Let's just get to the stupid exit." Taka finally gave in.

The silent genin rolled her eyes, knowing neither of her teammates could see it. In her head, she brought up the blueprints of the underground passages that she had found in the Konoha ninja library. The memory was hazy, and it didn't include these hidden parts of the underground that were cut off from the main part under the city, but it would give her an idea as to where to go.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from their left. The three Leaf shinobi stood silent as the sound sank in. "Wasn't that-" began Taka, only to have Hari interrupt her.

"Megusa-chan!" Instantly, he was running down the passageway like a bullet.

"Hari!" the Koudoukou called after him, but it was too late; he had already turned a corner. The redhead turned to her other teammate helplessly. "Why does he care what happens to her?"

The purple eyed kunoichi did her best to keep her face impassive but couldn't restrain a small frown. This was going to slow them down. "She was the first female to show him true affection," she finally explained. Without another word, she followed her male ally at a run.

Taka scowled at her back. "Damn it…" she muttered, then gave chase as well.

After two quick corners, she stepped up next to her female companion at the entrance to a small, fairly well lit room. Inside, the floor was soaked with water, and Hari stood in front of both Magusa and Toukan, who both looked like porcupines due to the number of senbon in them, facing two Rain nin, one of which held an umbrella aloft in front of him.

"Back up, you bastards!" shouted the male Konoha shinobi.

One of the Ame in sneared at him. "Another lamb to the slaughter. We'll just take your gear too then."

"Just try it!"

"No! Spike, you idiot!" cried the Mist kunoichi.

But it was once again too late as the Rain shinobi smirked, tossing his now opened umbrella into the air. It flew up to the ceiling, spinning violently. Then, it released a blast of senbon as thick as a fog that were slowly directed toward the Rain nin's enemies by his chakra.

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Rokudenashi Nara was an extremely lazy person. Interestingly enough, he was also very good with effective plans. He was told it ran in the family. But as long as his plans required very little actual work from him, he didn't care.

That was why he was particularly proud of this plan. All he had to do was sit near the top of a tree and watch the clouds, looking down any time he felt chakra signatures approaching.

Yes, chakra signatures.

He had discovered how to detect them while trying desperately to avoid his mother. Every time she got close, her angry chakra already spiked, he would feel this sort of…aura coming from that direction. When asked, his father had told him it was a chakra signature and to train himself in detecting them. Though it had been troublesome, he had done so. Now, he was glad he had because it gave him an excuse to be lazy.

Not that he needed it. He would've found a way anyway.

This was just so much easier.

He looked down as he sensed a signature headed toward Souran's trap. The Nara observed disinterestedly as the enemy approached-

-And went through the area. His attention caught, Rokuden looked more closely at the figure as it ran under the tree he stood in, barely catching a glimpse of a nearly adult form with a Mist headband and long black hair.

Curious, the pony tailed male jumped down to the ground and approached the Sand nin, as well as a confused Shan. He waited until the kabuki clothed genin glanced at him, telling him he had his attention.

"You let him go." The Suna citizen nodded. "Why?"

Souran frowned, turning to fully face the raven haired boy. Then, he motioned to the three present genin before bringing his hand down to be horizontal at his waist. He proceeded to motion in the direction their enemy had gone before raising his hand to eye level.

Rokuden blinked at him a moment before responding. "You're saying he's too strong for us to take?" He nodded. The Leaf shinobi's brow furrowed. "You can sense chakra signatures? Better yet, you can sense the _strength_ of chakra signatures?" Becoming annoyed, the Suna nin nodded again.

Somehow, that made the genius of the Nara clan fell a little worse about himself.

The Konoha nin interrupted Shan's exclamation for the 'Power of Youth', once more talking to Souran. "We couldn't have even stalled him long enough for the others to get here?" The sand shinobi shook his head. Rokuden's visage twisted into a frown. "Well, let me know if you see him again, and I'll tell the rest of the group." The Suna shinobi's head bobbed in agreement. The pony tailed genin turned around. "In the mean time, I'll leave you in charge of this troublesome area."

Souran sweat dropped as the genius jumped away. Of course he wouldn't leave them without finding a way to be even lazier…

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Hari's eyes went wide as he saw the mass of senbon raining down on him. He brought up two kunai in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

"Suiton: Aisutate no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Ice Shield Jutsu)

The green haired genin didn't even have time to look at the effects of the jutsu before the needles reached him. He defended his vitals desperately, receiving multiple jabs to other locations. In the end, he was left looking much the same as Magusa and Toukan had looked when he had first seen them, like a porcupine.

Hari cursed as he looked up at his enemies from his knees. Why couldn't there have been something to substitute with?...What had happened to him would cripple him. Badly. Especially considering how he was so focused on taijutsu.

The head Ame nin sneered down at them, seeing the thin layer of ice that had risen to defend the two Mist shinobi. "Lambs to the slaughter, indeed. He was even weaker than the first two." The Konoha nin scowled at him, which was simply ignored. "Shall I kill them now or wait until they give us their gears before I do?" he asked no one in particular.

The Leaf genin snarled, trying to stand and failing miserably. And where were Taka and Katame!? Surely, they had followed him. They wouldn't let him run off on his own after all. Would they?

"You're mine now." He knew that voice! Katame! He looked up to see his silent teammate clinging to the wall with chakra, going through a set of hand seals.

The quieter Rain nin's eyes narrowed. "Those are seals for a fire jutsu."

His ally's mouth fell open in shock. "But she'll burn her own teammate!" His eyes darted to the door that had been behind the pair, only to find a wall. "What the hell!?"

Without a word, the other Ame in grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the wall. "What are you doing!?"

"Getting us to safety," responded the smarter of the two, disappearing through the wall. A moment later, they were both through the illusion and were on the ground bracing for an explosion. When none came, the more down-to-earth one frowned. "Another genjutsu. This really _is_ the team that took our fellow Rain team's gear."

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Hari watched apprehensively as Katame went through her hand seals, having heard that it was a fire jutsu from the Rain nin. "Er…Katame-chan…"

She kept going.

"Katame-chan!..." His tone was slowly becoming panicked.

Yet, she still didn't stop.

"Katame, don't-!"

"Magen: Jigoku Koka no Jutsu!" (Demonic Illusions: Descending Hell Jutsu) she whispered, bringing her hand up to her mouth.

At this point, Hari knew it was too late. "Shit!" He watched a giant ball of fire erupt from her mouth. He covered his head and neck with his arms just before the brunt of the flame hit him, expecting to feel a searing pain.

Instead, nothing happened. He looked up to find Katame on the ground, facing away from him, already started on yet another set of seals. Then, he realized it had all been a genjutsu.

"Damn it, Katame! Don't scare me like that!" he shouted, only to be ignored. Confused, he looked around his teammate to see both Rain nin standing in a hallway.

One of them glared at her. "What? You think we're going to fall for another of your cheap tricks?"

"Katon: Gokakyu nu Jutsu," (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu) Hari heard his teammate murmur, once more bringing her hand up to her mouth.

The more silent Ame in jumped to the side, yelling. "Baka! You can't rely on it being a genjutsu!"

Unfortunately, the giant ball of fire that flew towards the arrogant, unmoved Rain shinobi was already too close to him to allow any sort of dodge. It engulfed him fully, causing him to let out a wail of horrible pain. Fire tore through every part of him.

His companion watched in terror as the genin's crispy form fell limply to the floor. He didn't even have time to recover before another jutsu was activated.

"Suiton: Touhitoya no Jutsu" (Water Style: Ice Prison Jutsu)

Bars of ice grew from the moist ground around the stunned Ame nin, coming together at the top to form a sort of cage. Once he came to, he jumped up and started to shake the bars, and, finding them surprisingly sturdy, he deemed the effort pointless with so many foes already near him. Thus, he sat down and crossed his arms stubbornly.

Slowly, the Mist and Leaf teams surrounded his prison, three of them plucking needles from their arms and legs in the process. "That was cool, Katame-chan," exclaimed Hari, then grudgingly, "And you, too, Iceman."

Toukan snorted. "There wasn't enough water to make a quick ice spike, or I woulda impaled him."

"And you had enough to make _this?_" asked the male from Konohagakure.

"It draws from a wider area." He grinned evilly. "Besides, this way, I can impale him _slowly_"

The Rain nin's eyes went wide in fear. "Wait! I'll give you the gear! Just don't kill me!" he quickly took the item from his weapon pouch and tossed it through the bars before cowering in a corner of his tiny cell.

"Tch. Wimp," grumbled the ice user, stalking off.

His teammate picked up and pocketed the gear before turning to the Leaf team. "Arigatou. We may not have survived that without your help."

Hari scratched the back of his neck nervously, closing his eyes. "Hehe. No problem. It's what friends do for each other, right?" Suddenly, the Leaf shinobi felt warm lips touch his forehead, but it was gone before he could even open his eyes. He watched in shock as Magusa ran back to Toukan.

"Stupid, sappy bastards," groaned the conscious Rain nin.

The masked genin blushed, though it was nearly impossible to tell through his mask, before throwing a kunai that landed just above the captive's head through the bars. "Shut it, you." Needless to say, he did.

A short silence ensued until Hari noticed something. "Hey, what happened to Taka-chan?"

Katame stood up from where she had been checking the burned ninja's vitals, shrugging.

"Spike-kun!" He spun to see Magusa motioning for them to follow. "I think Taka-san went after Sokudo. He's this way!" She turned and vanished into a hallway.

The two Leaf nin started to follow until the Rain nin called out to them. "Wait! What about me and my teammate!?"

Hari turned around but continued running backwards. "I'm sure the ice'll melt eventually." With that, he disappeared around the corner.

"And your teammate will live," finalized Katame, doing the same.

Being left alone with a burned unconscious body without a gear, the Rain shinobi cursed his luck silently.

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Tounyo watched through half-lidded eyes as Kizui walked around, picking up his numerous weapons and cursing under his breath…still in only his boxers. The medic-nin would have laughed at the scene, but he was too exhausted.

Not only had he fought one of the Rock nin, which in itself took a lot out of him, but he had also been forced to heal the other two Iwa shinobi by his conscience as well. The male hadn't been too bad; all he had done was clot a couple of the bigger wounds to prevent him from losing too much blood. In fact, he was already awake again, though he was now tied up in an anti-escape jutsu rope that the blonde tended to carry around.

The real problem had been the kunoichi. A gaping wound along each arm, both with the bone showing. That had been difficult, especially with his limited medic-nin abilities. All he had been able to do was bind the skin together and pray it healed correctly. He couldn't even clot the wounds without causing permanent nerve damage along her arms.

He looked over at the girl's limp form. Okay, so maybe it hadn't been so much difficult as it had been-no, still was-frustrating and mentally tiring. He hated not being able to do anything. The worst part was knowing that she could still die. She needed to be put in a hospital. Problem was that the closest one was through the finish gate. If they let the Rock team through out of mercy, what were _they_ supposed to do? Go find two more gears? Not likely. Yet, he knew his guilt would strangle him alive if he didn't.

Tounyo shook his head sadly. It was a damn double edged sword. How was he going to make a decision like that? He couldn't. It was that simple.

Perhaps there was a way around the system. He'd have to think on that.

The medic groaned. He was too tired to think. Rest is what he needed and badly.

"You alright, Tounyo-kun?" asked Taru from her seat next to him. He glanced over to find her watching Kizui pick up his equipment with Hana lying asleep on her head, not even bothering to hide her amusement. Similarly, he could hear the only conscious Rock nin snickering on his other side.

Tounyo sighed exhaustedly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Can't you all help me pick all these weapons up!?" shouted Kizui irritably. "It's gonna take forever at this rate!"

The cat-nin pointed to herself. "Make me," she responded simply.

The medic lifted eyes to his nearly nude friend. "And deprive myself of entertainment while I rest?" The white haired genin's eye twitched at his teammates amused smile. Seeing this, the blond dropped the façade and became serious. "You know I'm too dead on my feet to do much of anything Kizui. My chakra reserves are practically empty. Asking me to do something is just overkill."

The luck nin frowned at this. "Well, can I at least have some _clothes?"_ he demanded motioning to his boxers. "Having the Rock nin gawk at my slender form-" After pausing to strike a pose, he continued. "-is only flattering for so long."

Before Tounyo could respond and as the Iwa shinobi protested loudly, only to be ignored, the kunoichi among them spoke up with a small smirk on her lips. "I have some you can borrow." With amused curiosity, Tounyo watched as Taru dug into the small bag she had wrapped around her torso, under her shirt so that it was out of the way and hidden from enemy eyes (which happened to be where she had stored the gear).

He, himself, had a similar pack that he kept under his own shirt strapped to his back. Their sensei had given them to them.

No one knew what had happened to Kizui's.

They suspected it had something to do with target practice.

A few seconds later, the blond kunoichi procured a small set of clothes with a full blown smirk on her face.

0o0o0oFive Minutes Later0o0o0o

Kizui stood with his eye twitching in his new white tank top that stopped just short of his belly button and very tiny black shorts. The other three conscious ninja were all laughing hysterically, even Tounyo through his exhaustion. The luck nin scowled at them. "I hate you all."

"Hahaha! Come on, Kizui-_chan_, you know this is funny! Haha!" exclaimed the medic through his laughter.

The white haired genin turned a pleading look on the boy. "Oh, Tounyo-kun…I _know_ you have another set of clothes on you." The blond only laughed harder at this, causing his teammate to glare at him. "Fine. Don't help the poor boy that gets made fun of all the time."

Tounyo slowly started to control his laughter. "Sorry, Kizui-_chan_-" Here he broke out into another short fit of giggles. "-this really is just too funny." He grinned widely. "And I really don't have any extra clothes with me. I didn't have enough room between my medical supplies and my ninja equipment without bringing a giant backpack, which would only get in the way."

The luck nin scowled at him. "I thought you were always ready for anything!"

The male blond raised an eyebrow as the other two laughing shinobi slowly quieted down. "Anything doesn't seem to include having my clothes torn from my body, now does it?" Kizui gave him a menacing leer, causing him to roll his eyes. "Look. Compared to equipment that could save a life, items to cover up my body and prevent embarrassment aren't that high on my list of priorities."

"Whatever," muttered the now very feminine looking boy before sulking off to finish picking up his weapons, including the senbon he had used as safety pins to keep his pants up after the original Iwa ambush.

"Speaking of supplies," started Taru, having gotten a hold of herself, "How are we doing with what you brought?"

Tounyo frowned. "I've got a few meals' worth of rations, but I'm not worried about that; we can find food here somewhere, I'm sure. The problem is that I had to use most of my wrapping tape and sedatives on the girl." He looked over and the unconscious Iwa kunoichi worriedly. "And I still don't know what'll happen to her."

He brought his eyes up to Taru with a frown to find her glaring passed him. He spun to find the tied up Rock nin looking amazingly…relaxed. That can't be right. He was tied up, and his teammate was practically in a coma for Kami sake. He couldn't be just lying there, staring at the sky between buildings carelessly. Could he?

The medic glanced back at his teammate to see her still glaring. The redhead's lack of concern would certainly explain that, given the cat nin's protective nature. Plus, he _had_ just been laughing with them, which for the two Leaf genin had only really been stress relief.

And yet, he was a prisoner and his ally could _die_ for all he knew. So, why was he so calm?

"You're not worried?" inquired the male blond of him, drawing his attention.

"What? About being captured? If you wanted me dead, I wouldn't be here, and you all have our gear already so you should be satisfied. I've no reason to be concerned." Without a second thought, he looked back at the sky.

"What about your teammate?" prompted Tounyo.

His eyebrow rose. "Jetto-mu? Bah, she's lived through worse without a medic-nin. Hell, I've done worse to her _myself_. We'll just have to carry her is all. And I don't have to worry about Shusen at all because, as I've said, he's been trained to keep his armor jutsu up even while he's unconscious or I'd've asked you all to go get him." He brought his hand up and waved it dismissively. "So, I've got no reason to worry at all."

The medic turned to Taru in confusion, finding her in a similar state. They stared at each other a moment before Tounyo shrugged.

At least it had solved one problem.

If the Rock were so confident, then they didn't need to be let through the gate. The Konoha team would pass.

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Taka stared at the corridor in front of her, listening to the pitter-patter that was occurring there. She tilted her head in confusion.

How the hell was it raining underground?

Yet, here she was, underground, watching as the drops of water fell, seemingly from the ceiling, and splattered on the ground below. This made no sense whatsoever.

Hesitantly, she reached her hand out to feel the water droplets-

-And recoiled when she didn't feel a thing. She turned her hand over and over in front of her, examining it. It _looked_ wet, but it didn't _feel_ wet.

Something was definitely wrong. This couldn't be real. Everything was off. Only one thing could do that.

The redhead brought her hands into a single sign. "Kai!" (Release) She smirked as the illusion started to recede. Then, her eyes went wide when the mirage 'pushed back', so to speak, dispelling her chakra pulse.

The girl cursed under her breath. So, it was one of those 'resilient' genjutsu that she had seen Katame experimenting with. No wonder it was so simple, only effecting sight and sound. It sacrificed complexity for strength.

Now, she knew why Sokudo hadn't gotten rid of it yet. He _couldn't_. Apparently, neither could she.

She scowled. What use was she if she couldn't see or hear anything? She didn't have her sensei's bugs to help her.

Suddenly, she realized that there was an expanding cloud of white coming from the rain genjutsu. So, he had activated what he had used on her, which had ultimately led to his demise. She smirked as the mist expanded around her. If she could find the Fox and warn him, she could do it again.

"_Oh, that'll be easy,"_ she thought sarcastically as the fog rolled over her, making it downright impossible to see. And besides that, the sound of rain still drowned out nearly all other noise. She officially had no way of tracking him. _"Not like I can go back now anyway."_ She thought, glancing around her, _"I don't know which way back is."_

Cautiously, she started forward, knowing there was little else she could do, and, even if there was, she would still go straight ahead anyway.

A second later, she felt something ram into her body, knocking both her and it to the ground in a heap. She groaned as she pushed herself to her knees, noticing the human form doing the same beside her. "_Oh, what luck! A person already!" _Without hesitation, she tackled the recovering form back to earth. If it was Sokudo, the redhead could talk to him and plan; if not, it would make it easy to attack him since he was at such close range.

Taka slammed the body against the ground, pinning its legs with her own, and brought its face within inches of her own so she could see it. She didn't recognize it. She did, however, recognize the Rain headband on the apparent boy's forehead.

The Ame nin struggled feebly against her hold, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She wasn't _that_ heavy, was she? It was then that she saw cuts from his shoulder down to each elbow along the muscle. She looked down to see that his calves had been cut similarly. No wonder he seemed like such a wimp. She looked back at his face, vaguely noticing a red, fist-shaped mark on his cheek, and smirked, causing her enemy's eyes to go wide.

A moment later, his unconscious form lay on the ground at Taka's feet. The sound of rain caused by the genjutsu had already disappeared. Thus, she spoke normally, knowing the Kiri nin would hear her through his Hidden Mist.

"Drop your jutsu, Sokudo-san. He's out cold."

"Taka-san?" asked his voice through the slowly diminishing fog. "Why're you here?"

Gradually, the boy's blue hair became visible a few feet away from the Leaf kunoichi. "My teammates are helping your teammates, so I figure I should come help you."

Finally, she could see his whole, handsome form, including his confused face. "But why would they do that?"

Taka sighed. "I think Hari-kun has a crush on the kunoichi."

Sokudo raised an eyebrow. "Magusa-chan?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "Her name sounds like a Madusa."

His eyebrow rose to meet the other one. "You sound jealous."

She scowled at him. "Of that whore? Not in this life."

He laughed as he walked around her to kneel next to the unconscious body of the Rain nin. "Oh, that's right, I forgot. You like _me_, don't you?"

The redhead's face went red, in either anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. The next words out of her mouth made him lean toward anger. 'I'm-going-to kill you for that!"

He cackled as he ran away from his hunter, staying just out of range of her fist. Their four teammates walked in on this scene without them noticing. Hari sweat dropped. "What's going on?" he asked Magusa quietly.

The girl laughed. "Oh, Sokudo-kun's just being himself. He tends to be very sarcastic around those he knows. Though, this is strange since we don't know you all _that_ well."

The Leaf genin looked thoughtful. "Taka is the type that wouldn't take sarcasm lightly." His face became confused. "But why would he do that to her if he's only talked to her a few times?"

The Mist kunoichi smiled at him. "My guess is that he respects her since she did manage to fight him to a draw, even if it was a fluke. He may also trust her now, since she did come to try to help him on her own."

Suddenly, Katame stepped between them. "We need to move. Enemy's will be attracted to the noise they're making."

Magusa sighed and nodded. "Hai," she agreed quietly. Then, louder, "Sokudo-kun, Taka-san, we should head toward the gate now."

The two stopped their bickering and walked toward the others with the Konoha kunoichi glaring at the Kiri shinobi the whole way. Together, the two teams traveled to their destination.


	16. Falcon's Struggle

((Time for the part I've been planning for a good while…the preliminaries

((I would like to publicly thank Taru Toshito for being the only person to review my last chapter. I appreciate it greatly. I just wish other people would follow your example…

Time for the part I've been planning for a good while…the preliminaries! Some of you might not like this, but I plan to make these battles rather long. Don't get me wrong, others things will happen, but this will be a prime way for me to get in some fighting alongside some character development. Just like they did with the original…

Also, on a side note, I am not _entirely_ sure how Neji's 64 Palm jutsu works. I'm only going on what I can remember…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. I'm just too lazy to think of a creative way of saying it at the moment.

To the chapter!))

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**Falcon's Struggle**

"Finally!" exclaimed Sutamina as he took a step out of the hidden entrance to the underground that he and his team had been stuck in for the past few days. "Some fresh air! And _sunlight!_" He basked in the precious rays.

Sakkaku sighed. "I couldn't agree more."

"Damn Konoha," grumbled Uppun, "Damn their underground labyrinths. Damn it all." Having been lost there for the majority of their time in the exams, his companions had to agree.

The child-like Cloud nin grabbed his bag of sunflower seeds and shoved a few into his mouth. "Well, at least we came out near the exit," he stated through his food, pointing ahead of them with his free hand.

The other two looked up, and their mouths fell open. Right there stood an enormous bright and shiny, door-like gate. A few steps beside them was a lever along with two spokes with riddles above them. The one closer to the lever read:

"The (blank) to survive on one's own can only be found within one's self once you have the bond's worth protecting."

Suta watched as Sakkaku placed the gear labeled 'Power' there. Then, he turned to the other riddle:

"Though you can succeed on that strength alone, you will not become truly worthy of the next position without the (blank) of a team."

Uppun quickly placed his gear on the spoke before nodding to his male teammate. The boy grinned and pulled the lever beside him.

With a loud clank, the wall behind each gear withdrew, pulling both mechanisms into the wall. Then, with even louder, repeated cracks, the gate opened slowly, until there was just enough room for the three of them to walk under.

The Cloud team looked at each other in confusion before Suta shrugged and started toward the exit. The remaining two glanced at each other before following.

As soon as they all stepped through, the gate slammed shut with a distinct thud, causing the back two Kumo nin to jump. They stood there awkwardly for a moment until a Konoha chuunin appeared before them.

"Welcome. I'm glad you could make it in time. You had less than an hour left." Sakkaku let out a startled gasp. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting any more contestants to make it, especially with the number that have already made it." He started to walk away, motioning them to follow, leading them into a nearby, solitary building.

"How many teams have made it through?" asked Uppun with narrowed eyes when he caught up.

The chuunin smirked at him. "Including yours? Nine."

The kunoichi's mouth dropped open. "Damn! We still have 24 people as competition!"

The Leaf nin laughed. "Oh, don't worry. That number will be cut in half shortly."

The prejudiced genin glared at his back. "What do you mean?"

The chuunin smiled, stopping on the spot. "You'll see in an hour," he stated, opening the door beside him. "For now, here's your temporary room. Feel free to rest or eat what we've supplied in the kitchen. We'll come and get you shortly." He quickly ushered them into the room and shut the door, not allowing for any more questions.

Suta immediately rushed to the tiny kitchen with an exclamation of, "_Real_ food!"

Sakkaku plopped herself down on one of the bunk sized beds. "Ah, sleep."

"Don't eat that, Suta!" called Uppun, following after him. "It might be poisoned!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kiba stood, watching the Hokage think apprehensively. Finally, she looked at him.

"And you're sure about this?"

The wild nin nodded seriously. "Hai. My students wouldn't lie about something like this, especially since they don't understand what it could mean."

The aged kage frowned. That meant that her genin could be in danger. But what could she do about it?

"I suggest we have my team identify their attackers before the next round and disqualify the whole team," the dog nin recommended, interrupting her thought.

The Slug Sannin gave him an annoyed glare. "Don't you think I've thought of that?" The brunette looked startled. "We don't have the ground to do that. All we have is the word of three genin, and, despite how much both of us trust them, I doubt the other villages would accept that as a valid reason for disqualification."

Kiba was about to speak, but the Godaime's voice overrode his. "Furthermore, if you're thinking of canceling the exams, we can't do that either. By canceling under the claim that a couple of jounin have infiltrated the exams, we will make Konoha look incredibly weak and possibly bring on yet another shinobi war as other nations seek to take advantage of that weakness."

The dog nin looked incredibly downcast as he responded. "Then, what can we do?"

Tsunade frowned. "We take as many precautionary measures as we can without raising suspicion. Uchiiha Sasuke-san!

The raven haired man took a step away from the wall he had been leaning on with a grunt of acknowledgement.

"You heard all of that, right? He nodded. "If any life seems in danger, I want you to intervene and end the match. We can't have needless deaths with the way things are between Konoha and most of the other great shinobi villages. Understood?"

"Hai."

"I will bring Naruto with me just in case he is needed. I can't do much more."

Kiba bowed to the Godaime respectfully. "Arigatou, Hokage-sama."

The old woman's face softened. "I'm only glad you could get the information to me in time." She smirked. "Besides, I can't have outside influence interfere with our little bet."

The brunette grinned back. "Shall we double the stakes?"

"Triple!"

"Deal!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rei stood, bored, amongst the genin that had passed the second exams. They now stood in teams, two older Leaf teams farthest on the right with a Sand team next to them, then her team followed by a the other two rookie teams and a Mist team, finishing with a Cloud team near the door.

They were all silent as they waited for the Hokage, who stood in front of them amongst all their jounin sensei, alongside the two exam proctors and a blonde ninja that was easily recognizable as Uzumaki Naruto, one of the village's strongest shinobi, to start speaking.

In front of the cat nin was Hotaru, standing quietly, and Hitayio, waiting as patiently as ever; in other words, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet, ready to get started.

The neko nin sighed. Masaru rubbed against her legs comfortingly. The four of them had been through a lot in the past few days. After their encounter with the powerful Mist ninja, who she was frankly surprised wasn't here yet, they had given themselves a day and a half of rest. All three of them had seriously needed it. Then, they had set off for the gate, hoping to set up an ambush there for one of the weakened teams with both gears. Unfortunately, along the way, they, themselves, were ambushed, or at least as ambushed as a team can be when they have a nose as powerful as Rei's. Despite the fact that this situation is often considered a bad thing, the Grass team was apparently either crippled from a previous fight or just that pathetic. Rei guessed the former because, in the end, they had no gear.

The neko nin sighed irritably. After that, they had rested for the remainder of the day and the following night. It was sheer luck that Rei woke up smelling a nearby Sand team that the four of them managed to ambush. However, this team was much stronger than the last and ended up injuring both her and Hotaru before being dispatched. The brunette felt the scar that had been left on her thigh after being healed. Luckily, they had found the gear they needed from them and rushed to the gate unimpeded.

She sighed, glancing among the other rookies. She snickered slightly when she saw Kizui in obviously feminine clothing, revealing his stomach and a _lot_ of leg. At least she could take solace in the fact that she still had her clothes.

She was brought back to the present by Hotaru tensing in front of her. She followed her teammates eyes to the door-

-And scowled when she found the Kiri nin they had fought during the second exam leading his team into the room. To her amazement, he looked even more beat up than after her team's combination attack. A cold chill ran through her. If there was a team that could do that to _him,_ then perhaps they _were_ in trouble.

She looked towards his teammates, mildly surprised when neither of them had any signs of fatigue or injuries.

"Sorry for being late," said the injured shinobi exhaustedly, "But _someone_-" He sent a glare to their masked Konoha nin guide, who held an orange book open in his hand. "-decided to come get us _late_."

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei," called Naruto from the front, smirking. "You're early." The guide's eyes curved in what was apparently a smile.

The Hokage still didn't look pleased. "If you'll join the other genin in line, we'll get started," she told the Mist team, who nodded and did so. "I'll be having a conversation with you on your tardiness later, _volunteer_." She warned Kakashi, who quickly shuffled out of the room, slightly frightened.

Tsunade finally started her formal speech, starting with an introduction of the male blond next to her. However, Rei wasn't listening. She had to get a hold of her sensei. They had told him about their encounter but hadn't been able to fully identify the enemy. Kiba-sensei needed to know who he was.

It didn't help that Hitayio now looked like he was freaking out and Hotaru seemed to be keeping as much distance between her and the Kiri shinobi as possible. Luckily, they were five rows down from them.

"Hey, Masaru," she whispered to the panther, who had bristled at her feet, "Go tell Akamaru that that Mist nin is the guy we fought and have him tell Kiba-sensei." Masaru growled his acceptance before walking off as casually as he could manage in his tense state.

Rei smiled softly, ignoring the monologue in the background. Despite how much the cat and dog hated each other, they would work together astoundingly well when they needed to. It helped that they could talk to each other, giving their team a nearly silent means of long-range communication. She watched as her partner mewed and growled quietly and her sensei's companion yipped back.

After nearly a minute, Masaru pranced back to Rei as Akamaru conveyed the information to the wild nin. The special jounin then looked at her before motioning toward the Mist team with his head. She nodded. He nodded back and sent his dog to get the Hokage's attention.

It was then that the cat nin realized the Godaime was no longer talking, but instead a famous, at least in the Leaf village, raven haired special jounin was. Uchiha Sasuke. Around her, the teams were muttering something about a preliminary round that was going to take place immediately. She frowned. That wasn't good.

"But some of us just _got_ here a short while ago! How are we supposed to be ready to fight after such a long time in hostile territory?" complained the Cloud kunoichi, Sakkaku, looking very tired.

Sasuke only smirked. "Enemies can attack you at any moment, and you should always be ready for it. Of course, if you don't feel up to it now, you can always withdraw. You're teammates won't be affected by the decision since you're all on your own now."

The girl fell silent. A second later, to Rei's immense shock, the Mist nin they had fought raised his hand. The cat nin stared, mouth open, as he explained. "I've been too beaten up to compete in another match already. It doesn't help that I still can't feel most of my legs from the electricity I took earlier from a team that happens to be in this room."

The brunette scrutinized the older genin closely. He certainly looked beaten, though that in itself was strange considering how little damage she recalled her team doing to him. She somehow doubted others could do much better. What caught her attention most, however, was the glint in his eyes.

"_There must be more to this surrender than there seems," _she thought, her eyes narrowing.

"Very well," began Sasuke, keeping his tone even, "You may leave the way you came. I'm sure you can find your way back to the village."

The Mist nin nodded, already heading toward the door with what seemed like a slight smirk on his face.

Rei glowered before turning to her sensei, desperate for something to be done, only to find him nodding to the Hokage. She sighed in relief when the kage nodded back, giving Naruto a quick, whispered order. The male blond's head took its turn to bob before he made a hand sign and was covered in a puff of smoke. A second later, he stood there as if nothing had happened. From the hand seal, Rei could only assume he had used his infamous Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

The neko nin took a deep calming breath. Everything was okay. They had the ever surprising Uzumaki Naruto tailing the danger they had encountered earlier and had the famous, or infamous depending on how you looked at it, Uchiha Sasuke overseeing the third exam. What could go wrong?

"-Killing is allowed," continued Sasuke on his speech about the rules, "But I will do everything in my power to prevent it."

The brunette scowled. _That_ could go wrong. And if those Mist team members were _all_ as strong as the one they had faced, the Uchiha may not be able to do much about it, even with his renowned speed.

She'd have to pray that no one on her team would have to fight them.

She turned her stony gaze on the newly activated screen that would decide the battles apprehensively.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Taka stared in shock at the billboard that displayed the two combatants of the first fight.

Koudoukou Taka vs. Hyuuga Nebin.

She already had to fight! And it was against-

Hyuuga Nebin…

That was Hato-kun's teammate…The one he told her was the strongest on the team.

"Shit…" she murmured before she could stop herself. She was only vaguely aware of the third proctor telling the noncombatants to go up to the balcony above as she stared at her cousin, who gave her an apologetic look.

She was startled by a hand setting itself firmly on her shoulder.

"You go get 'em, Taka-chan!" It was Hari, giving her a thumbs up with his free hand.

The kunoichi gave him a weak smile. "Hai." Her teammate gave her a supportive smile before walking around her with Katame following, giving an encouraging nod.

As her sensei went after them, he spoke to her in no more than a whisper. "Don't use the monkey on him."

Taka frowned but knew she should trust the man. He hadn't let them down before. So, there had to be a reason behind it. But it still took away from her arsenal.

She glared at Nebin as he approached the center of what she now realized was an arena. This wouldn't be easy. Her best one on one jutsu apparently wouldn't work. Her only other combat jutsu was dangerous, especially since she still wasn't sure if she'd completely mastered it. Yet, there may end up being no other way…

She slowly, and apprehensively, joined her opponent and the Uchiha proctor. If even Hato-kun couldn't defeat him, what chance did she have? No! No! She couldn't think like that. She was nothing like Hato-kun.

"Are the two of you ready?" asked Sasuke.

Before Taka could do anything, Nebin held up his hand in a placating gesture directed towards her. "Give up now, Taka-san," he said seriously, "You cannot win. Not even your elder cousin can defeat me." He was echoing her thoughts from before. "Additionally, I know your clan's jutsu. You stand no chance against me."

Before, when she had told herself the same things, it had disheartened her. Now, however, hearing them from her enemy, it only served to infuriate her. She scowled at him. "Shut up, teme, and prepare to fight," she commanded, bringing her hands up to activate her Nezumi no Jutsu.

Mildly surprised, Nebin dropped into the basic Jyuuken stance. "Very well…"

Deciding it was best to start the match before it came to blows, Sasuke shouted, "Hajime!" (Begin)

To his surprise, the only thing that happened was the redhead dropping into a ready stance. For a second, neither combatant moved until Taka finally grew too annoyed to sit still. She rushed forward with a punch, which the Hyuuga ducked under. This set up a quick jab to her stomach.

She felt what little lunch she'd had spasm dangerously. She lurched forward, doing all she could to resist the urge to throw up.

He fell back mercifully, watching as she coughed on the floor. "Do you see why you cannot win?" he asked as the coughing stopped, "My Jyuuken can cripple you in but a few blows."

The kunoichi looked up at him, scowling. She forced herself back to her feet. We'll see about that." Once more, she fell into a ready stance.

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Hato stood, watching the fight between his relative and his teammate apprehensively. He couldn't root for either side without risking insulting the other. Yet, he could see quite plainly that Taka needed it, even with the relatively continuous verbal support from her male teammate. She had yet to land a single blow, while Nebin struck her repeatedly. But somehow, she managed to continue fighting each time. In fact, it had gotten to the point where she didn't even go down after each hit, as if the effects were getting weaker on her.

Hato frowned. He didn't know whether that was good or bad for her. She could be permanently damaging her body for all he knew.

But, the worst part of all was knowing what his own mother, Taka's aunt, would do to the girl when-no, _if_, he reminded himself-she lost. He shivered at the thought. He wanted to help his cousin, truly, but he was deathly afraid of his own mother, at least when Taka was around. All he could bring himself to do in those instances was give a disapproving look and walk away so he wouldn't be forced to witness the monstrosity.

"Nebin is doing well, right, Lee-sensei?" His teammate's voice brought him back to the present.

He caught his sensei's frown out of the corner of his eye. "No." The thick brows of Shan rose. "He's actually doing worse than usual. Watch closely."

Though he hadn't actually been part of the conversation, Hato could tell his teacher was talking to him as well and did as told. He watched his cousin take a swipe at the Hyuuga that was easily dodged and countered. Taka brought her other arm around and deflected the Jyuuken downward, causing it to strike her thigh. Without missing a beat, the redhead went in for another punch that Nebin had to knock off course with his forearm. Then, the pearl eyed genin went in for another Jyuuken, which was deflected away.

"Taka-san is doing astoundingly well," stated Rock Lee, Hato's sensei, garbed in his usual green tights, attracting his two students' attention. "She's realized how lethal each blow is and is now directing them into two distinct locations on her thighs. It's risky since it could cause severe damage to the tissue there, but in doing so, she is preventing Nebin from cutting off chakra to the rest of her body or injuring her organs.

Hato snorted. Figures she would come up with a strategy like that. She always did think outside the box when she used their clan's Rat technique.

"But, Lee-sensei, if she's doing that, how is she still standing?" asked Shan, drawing the male redhead back to the conversation.

"Like I said, Shan, she's directing the blows to two distinct points, causing him to be able to block only two chakra points. Though I doubt she realizes it, she is only able to stand thanks to the chakra flowing to her legs through the other points on them." After a short pause, he added, as if as an afterthought, "It helps that Nebin is holding back most of his chakra."

It occurred to Hato then that his teammate was using the two finger style of Jyuuken meant to shut down chakra points, rather than the palmed attacks on the tissue in the area.

The genin let out a sigh of relief.

That meant he was trying not to hurt her.

Hato felt himself relax. That was good. Taka wasn't in danger. There was no way she could win, but she wouldn't be overly injured.

The boy looked over the rail to the fight below as his cousin directed another of the Hyuuga's jabs into her thighs and smiled. Thank Kami Nebin had more emotions than he liked to show.

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A man with barely visible short, spiky red hair stood silently in the dark meeting hall of the organization he led. 'Led', of course, being very loose here, what with how independent the members tended to be. He was lucky they all had the same goal in mind and thus cooperated, whether they completely agreed or not.

He didn't feel very lucky at this moment, however, because his contact was late. This, in itself, was odd because he was usually very punctual. The man could only hope it was merely a small complication that delayed him.

After all, they couldn't afford to lose a spy, now could they?

A few minutes of anxious grumbling later, a second figure finally entered the room, his short white hair flashing briefly in the light outside.

"Sorry I'm late, Leader-sama," he said immediately, knowing what was on the first man's mind, "I ran into some rather distrustful Oto nin on my way here. I had to convince them that I was under orders from the Otokage to go to an urgent meeting with some Kiri nin. they were stubborn to a fault I must say."

The first shadow's eyebrow rose invisibly at this. "So, he still intends to use Mist nin for the invasion?"

"For the first wave, he does. But he is no fool. He knows it will fail, no matter how much planning he does." He paused, waiting for his leader to tell him to continue.

The orange-ish haired man obliged. "Then what does he intend to do after that?"

"He plans to use Iwa's and Kumo's animosity toward the enemy to his advantage and gain two more armies of shinobi at his back. He'll wait until after the initial attack, when the opponent will be at its weakest before asking for support, hoping the two will jump on the opportunity."

The first shadow stood silent for a while, with the second staring at him anxiously, before speaking again. "He will certainly bring up a wave of chaos throughout the world. Good. That'll make it easier to obtain our own objectives. Thank you for the update, Omoi-san. You are dismissed." He turned away, ready to contemplate the organization's further actions, only to realize the other shadow wasn't leaving. "Is there anything else you think I should know?" he asked cautiously.

He sensed the white haired man nod. "Hai, Leader-sama. The Otokage is becoming very weak."

"Then, he will be switching bodies soon. It doesn't matter to us."

"That's not the problem. His illness is causing him to spend more time in Otogakure. Because of this, he is noticing some of my actions. I fear that, even with all my suggestive capabilities, I will be found out soon."

The bright haired man's eyes narrowed. "We may have to become more covert in our meetings and actions then, perhaps limiting them to once a year. We cannot lose our inside man in Oto. Not knowing their plans could foil ours."

"Shall I contact you with the next meeting time?"

The first shadow almost laughed. He knew his companion wouldn't take no for an answer. Not that it mattered since what he suggested was the best course of action. "Hai. Only contact me if something drastic changes. If you have nothing more, you are dismissed."

He sensed the man bow and leave, even though he had already turned his back. He became thoughtful almost immediately. Things were getting complicated.

Even now, the shadows of the Land of Rice played a strange tune…

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Nebin gave a mental sigh. This girl's defense was pretty good, considering they were fighting hand to hand.

Nonetheless, had she not been a relative of his teammate's, he would have already won mercilessly. Lucky for her, he didn't feel like dealing with his companion at the moment.

So, he continued to be cautiously aggressive, just as his opponent did. Neither one could land an effective blow. Surprisingly, Taka was even managing to prevent the Hyuuga from blocking her strikes with his hands, always attacking on the outside or when he obviously couldn't block and had to dodge, thus preventing him from sealing the chakra points in her arms.

But that didn't matter. She had yet to land even a glancing hit. Plus, he could tell she was getting tired. He would win this fight. It was only a matter of time. He just had to be patient.

About a minute later, he saw an opening in her defense after a right hook he had ducked under. He quickly brought himself within her guard. He struck out with a Jyuuken to the side before jumping back as a precaution.

He watched as she winced, clutching the point of impact, trying desperately not to fall to her knees. She breathed heavily as she put a hand to the ground to steady herself.

"Allow me to restate what I said earlier," said Nebin with deadly seriousness, "Surrender. You cannot win. That should be obvious by now. I have landed two damaging blows, while you've landed none."

She glared at him defiantly, straightening back up to her full, though unimpressive, height. "I'm not finished yet."

"But you are. Not even Hato, your elder, can defeat me."

Taka's eyes narrowed, bristling. "Do _not_ compare me to Hato."

Seeing an opportunity to anger her and perhaps cause recklessness, the Hyuuga pressed it. "You should feel honored to be compared to him. He _is_ stronger than you. It makes me question whether you really are worthy of being the clan's heir."

The Koudoukou's eyes flashed with fury. "Then, allow me to show you one of our clan's most useful techniques, and we shall see who is unworthy." He watched her form a hand sign, dropping into his own Jyuuken stance. "Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Snake of the Zodiac Jutsu)

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Hari stared nervously down at his teammate. She was losing. Even he could see that. But he also knew that she wouldn't give up.

Whether that was good or bad, he didn't know.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his anxiety, and glanced around. Next to him stood Katame and Shino, both as calm as ever, though the boy had no clue how. Their teammate was down there fighting for a promotion! Show some emotion, damn it!

He almost jumped when he realized that their team had somehow become the center of most of the other teams. On either side of them was the Mist and Cloud teams that they knew. This was, of course, in no way hostile, though it certainly didn't help calm Hari's nerves (after all, who wants to have people fighting over you while you're trying to watch a fight?). On the other side of the Cloud team, the two elder Leaf teams that made it through stood, along with a Sand team. The other two rookie teams were opposite the Mist team.

Perhaps that was why his companions weren't showing emotions…

The only team that wasn't with their not-so-little group was the older Mist team, who had lost one of their members, standing on the opposite side with their sensei.

"No way in Hell-!" The shout brought the masked genin back from his distracting observations. It had come from one of the older Leaf teams, a redhead that looked a lot like Taka.

The boy's teammate kept his eyes on the fight below. "I've never seen that jutsu, Hato-kun. Is it also one of your clan's techniques?"

Hari looked down, curious, to find his ally in an odd new taijutsu stance. She stood with one hand held low in front of her and the other tucked near the center of her torso. Both hands were in the awkward position of all five of the fingers merging toward a single point.

He hadn't seen that style before. He decided to eavesdrop on his fellow Konoha genin.

His visage still looking shocked, Hato finally answered his companion. "I'm not sure I believe it, but it looks like the Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu, one of our clan's most difficult techniques to master. It is also probably the most dangerous."

"Then, you haven't learned it yet?"

Hari saw the redhead shake his head. "My father won't risk teaching it to me yet."

The green haired genin could no longer contain his curiosity. "But what does it do?"

Hato turned a surprised look to him. "You mean she hasn't shown it to you?"

Hari shook his head. "I've only seen three of her jutsu. Four, now."

The taller genin raised an eyebrow. "I guess if she put so much time into the snake technique, she would probably only know a few of our other jutsu."

Shocked by the 'our' in that statement but not willing to be distracted, he repeated his question. "But what does it do?"

He saw Hato wince back, hesitating, before sighing in resignation. "It's dangerous because it pulls chakra directly from the user's chakra reserves, rather than the typical chakra stores that normal jutsu use. Using it too much can drain the reserves drastically, leading to exhaustion, unconsciousness, or even death. Not only that, but it requires an insane amount of chakra control to pull from the reserves like that. Thus, my surprise with her knowing the technique."

"It then channels that dormant chakra down her arms to the point where her fingers meet. When she strikes with this, it'll transfer this chakra, along with a small amount of her normal chakra to activate the rest of it, into her opponent. After-"

"Look," interrupted Katame, pointing at the fight below. They all did as told, finding Nebin in a new stance of his own, one arm raised behind him, the other lowered in front of him, both palms downward.

"Oh shit," cursed Hato loudly.

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How dare he insult her position in the clan!? She deserved to be the heir of her clan! She had suffered through more crap than almost anyone else here and still come out relatively well. She definitely deserved it more than _Hato_, who had the favoritism of both the other members of their clan.

She had lived without parents almost her entire life, knowing very little about them. She had been alone most of her life. Even at the academy she had had trouble making friends.

Thus, she had taken to being loud and obnoxious in order to get attention. This had only farther pushed away the other students, who, because of this and her sub-par abilities, considered her an idiot.

She had been alone nearly all her life.

Yet, somehow, she had maintained a positive outlook.

She, Taka Koudoukou, deserved to be clan heir. This she knew to be absolute fact.

And she wouldn't accept anyone insulting that position.

Thus, she brought out her trump card. Sensei always _had_ told her to keep one technique hidden specifically for these circumstances. She hadn't put nearly two years into learning it for nothing. Oh yes, she would use the Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu. It would be Nebin's just desserts for insulting her.

Plus, she could prove to Hato that she wasn't the nobody his parents tried to make her out to be.

"You cannot defeat me with one new move," declared her opponent, drawing her attention.

Her eyes narrowed. "We'll see."

"Ah, but you are in range of my Hakke. You'll be immobile before you can even unleash it."

Taka almost laughed. She was already pretty much immobile. She was barely standing as it was. Her legs had obviously taken one too many hits. Luckily, this jutsu didn't require her legs. She just had to wait for him to come to her. "Come on, then," she stated finally.

"Very well," the Hyuuga replied, dropping into his own jutsu's stance. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho! Two!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms) With two quick steps, he was in striking range, thrusting out with a pair of quick jabs-

-Both of which were deflected away. Taka took advantage of the short opening to deal out two strikes of her own, hitting him in the left thigh and right shoulder. Yet, somehow, he hardly even felt them. Thus, he continued with his own jutsu before she could do anything worse.

"Four!" Two were deflected, but the other two landed solidly.

"Eight!" All eight landed almost perfectly.

"Sixteen!" His speed had gone beyond her response time.

"Thirty-two!" He sealed off every targeted chakra point.

"Sixty-four!" He finished with a nearly un-seeable set of strikes. The force of the blows launched Taka a short distance backward, where she landed in a limp heap, unconscious.

The white eyed genin settled back into a more relaxed pose.

"Winnder: Hyuuga Nebin!" announced the proctor, already calling a set of medic nin.

Satisfied, the genin started toward the stairs up to his teammates. He had done his job. He had won. He would get the chance to become a chuunin.

Suddenly, as he took another step, his leg gave out beneath him, sending him to the ground unceremoniously. Shocked, he tried to push himself to his feet, only to realize that both his left leg and right arm refused to move, making it impossible. He cursed silently when he saw that the medics were already upon him.

Whatever it was that caused him to go limp, he better be able to recover from it before the next round of exams, or he would be _pissed_.

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Suta stared down in shock at the two laid out combatants. He wasn't surprised that Taka had been taken away on a stretcher thanks to the innumerable hits she had taken.

But the Hyuuga…He didn't understand. He had only taken two attacks throughout the whole match. How could he be disabled by that?

"What happened?" His question had been asked by his Hari-nii-chan. He turned, wanting to know that himself.

"To Nebin?" responded Hato, to whom the inquiry had been addressed. "Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu transfers the dormant chakra and active chakra I was telling you about, together, into the opponent at the point of impact. About thirty seconds later, the active chakra activates the inactive portion of it; I'm not sure how since I haven't learned the technique. This burst of chakra overloads the inner coils as well as the nerves in the area, thus immobilizing that portion of the body completely.

Suta raised an eyebrow. He was impressed. He had pegged Taka as the weakest one on the team (which she still may very well be), and she had almost managed a tie. Granted, he knew her opponent had been holding back at least until the final attack. But still, he was surprised.

"Meh," groaned Hari from beside him, "It doesn't matter, though. She lost."

The Cloud nin caught Hato's frown as the child-like genin took it upon himself to comfort his adopted brother. "Don't worry, Hari-nii-chan! I'll win for you!"

A snort came from the Leaf genin's other side. "You couldn't beat a rat, runt. _I'll_ win for you Hari-kun."

Suta glared at Magusa, who now had a grip on Hari's arm, as he took hold of the green haired boy's other arm. "I guess you must be weaker than a rat because I can _obviously_ defeat you."

The Mist kunoichi laughed. "You wish."

The Kumo nin was about to retort when he received a sharp hit to the back of his head. "Shut it, and wish me luck, Suta!" He turned around to see Sakkaku headed toward the stairs into the arena below. Confused, he looked up at the board that determined the combatants.

Bijuaru Sakkaku vs. Souran no Suna.

His eyes widened in understanding. He turned, releasing Hari, and yelled after her. "Good luck, Sakkaku-nee-chan! Beat him to a bloody pulp!"

Just then, a boy carrying a large bandaged object on his back with a Sand hitai-ate walked by him, headed for the steps, glancing at him briefly with deathly serious eyes. Suta shivered. That boy's spider-like face paint and clothes creeped him out. He sincerely hoped his teammate could beat him.

Because he sure didn't want to face him.

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Sakkaku stopped in the middle of the arena, waiting for her foe to get there. She could win this. She _would_ win this. If necessary, she would pull out her favorite jutsu. She had to have at least a _chance_ of becoming a chuunin.

Her opponent stopped in front of her, giving off a cold, confident air, causing a small chill to run down her spine.

"Are there any words you would like to say before we begin?" asked to examiner calmly.

Sakkaku shook her head. She'd rather get it over with.

Souran, however, pulled the package off his back without saying a word and tossed it to the side.

The kunoichi raised an eyebrow. She was no fool; she knew of the Sand's famous puppeteers and had assumed him to be one of them. That was why she had planned to keep him nearby, using her average taijutsu against her adversary's presumably weaker abilities in the area.

It confused her that he would simply discard his weapon before a battle. Unless, of course, it was some sort of trap. She decided to keep an eye on the wrapped up puppet.

She watched him draw a kunai and drop into a taijutsu stance, doing the same herself, as Uchiha Sasuke shouted.

"Hajime!"

Not a moment later, the Sand genin was rushing at her. She brought up a standard kunai defense as her foe came in with a downward slash of his knife-

-And she yelped when she felt the side of her hand get cut. The kunoichi leapt back to put some distance between them, which Souran quickly shortened. This was bad. The battle had just started, and she was already behind!

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Katame stared down at the fight below indifferently. She honestly didn't care who won. She hardly knew either of them. It didn't matter which one won to her.

She was more worried about Taka. And from the look of things, so was Hari.

After she had described the Hyuuga's Jyuuken taijutsu and how it couldn't be healthy to receive so many of the blows to her system, the boy had nearly dashed off to the infirmary after her. Of course, Shino-sensei had put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, silently ordering him to stay for his fight. Their sensei had then gone after their teammate to the healing center.

Since then, Hari had been fidgeting restlessly from foot to foot, not even letting his two admirers touch him, even though one was too distracted cheering on his teammate to try. The Leaf nin's eyes were on the match, but Katame could tell he wasn't paying attention. He was lost in his own little world.

The blue haired kunoichi wasn't _that_ worried. Had she been receiving full Jyuuken strikes, her teammate wouldn't have been _standing_ by the end of the fight. Therefore, she couldn't have too much damaged tissue. Especially since the Sixty-four Strikes only targets chakra points.

Thus, Katame watched the fight below calmly, if for nothing else, for the knowledge she could obtain in case she had to face either combatant in the future.

However, her attention was drawn to another Sand nin only a short distance away when he started laughing. The Cloud nin that wasn't cheering also noticed and turned to snap at the boy. "Hey! What's so funny!?"

The Suna genin responded, continuing to laugh. "Hahaha! He's-haha-actually _winning_-hahaha!"

Uppun, the Kumo shinobi, scowled at him. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

The Sand kunoichi decided she should answer before her ally could offend them any more. "Souran-kun tends to hold back a bit much at the start of a fight. To see him _not_ doing so is a bit of a surprise." Technically, this wasn't true since Souran could sense chakra levels and use only the chakra that was required of him to win.

But they didn't need to know that.

Better to appease them, at least for the moment. Nobody wanted a blood bath in the stands, after all.

Luckily, it seemed to work. The Cloud nin shrunk back, grumbling a "Whatever."

His teammate, however, joined the conversation, pausing in his cheering. "If he's not holding back, why did he toss his puppet, as I assume it is, off to the side."

The Sand kunoichi bit her lip as she glared at the slightly smirking boyish figure, her ally no longer laughing beside her. He had them trapped, and he knew it. She couldn't give away her teammate's strategy for most situations, since he may not end up using them. Thus, she had only one choice. One that had a high likelihood of pissing them off again.

"He's saying that he won't need his puppet to beat her," she replied, grimacing.

Uppun snarled. "Teme's going to regret that."

The male Sand nin grinned. "Oh, I doubt that."

The Cloud shinobi's eyes narrowed. "You'll regret it, too."

Just then, the Kumo ninja's sensei stepped between them, his imposing form stopping any action Uppun was about to take. His Kumo jounin uniform kept him armed and guarded at all times, the hood of his jacket pulled back, revealing his gruff black hair and features. "Enough, child."

The raven haired genin relaxed somewhat, though he glared around his teacher. "Consider yourselves lucky," he told the Sand nin, turning back to the fight.

Jiheki, as Katame had heard the male Sand nin called, smirked. "I can't _wait_ to fight you."

"Okay then," began Suta, the younger looking Kumo genin, gathering the Suna nin's attention from his companions, "If he wanted to mock her, why didn't he say anything?" The tone of his voice this time wasn't knowing like it had been before but truly curious. He seemed baffled by the lack of vocal challenge, being obviously loud himself.

The Sand sensei, her blond hair pulled back into four tails, took this opportunity to make sure her young squad didn't upset anyone else. "He is mute." The boy gave her a raised eyebrow. "Born that way. Doesn't hurt his ability as a shinobi though, so the village allowed him to join."

The brown haired genin nodded in understanding. "I see."

The blue haired kunoichi watched all of this with mild interest. She, personally, hoped she would face the aggressive Cloud genin. Angering him would be easy and make him reckless. It would be an easy battle for her.

The Suna shinobi though… she couldn't get much out of them. They were both cautiously confident, though the male was plainly more reckless than the female. Their calm, assertive sensei didn't help. She looked almost as if she had expected something like that to happen.

Then, there was the child-like Kumo nin…

She didn't know what to make of him. He was enthusiastic, childish, and possessive, yet he had shown surprising observational skills with but a single comment. What was more puzzling was the bag of sunflower seeds that replaced the boy's shuriken holster, as well as the bag he ate from every so often. She could only assume his abilities had something to do with it.

Nevertheless, he would make an interesting fight.

Strangely enough, Katame found her anticipation growing.

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Souran kept close behind his opponent. He knew he could because he could tell she was more of a ranged fighter, not used to close quarters. Too bad for her, he was like the jumping spider, hunting its prey down, poisoning it, and then gobbling it up while it's weakened.

It also didn't help her that his abilities could help him subtly.

He came at her with yet another slash, causing her to bring up her feeble defense. With a flick of his unarmed wrist, he attached a chakra string to the arm that came up to block him and ever-so-slightly tugged it downward, allowing his kunai to cling off her own and put another small cut in her forearm. She seemed dulled to the pain, barely wincing before jumping back…again. He was but a step behind her.

He knew he'd win if he kept this up. Not only did he have the constant advantage, being sure she couldn't perform hand signs in the process (she had already tried and was interrupted), but he was slowly pushing her into his trap. He was relatively certain he had this match in the bag.

"_Of course, I could always be proven wrong,"_ he thought as he saw her eyes light with determination. A second later, she threw the kunai that she had been using as a defense-

-In the complete opposite direction from him. Almost immediately, he realized that she was attacking the packet he had previously carried on his back, his puppet.

Perhaps, she thought that he was hiding inside the wrappings, as puppeteers had been famous for. That would mean the action was pointless but still…He was more worried about her merely wanting to be sure which one was actually him. That would mean she was planning something specifically for him.

Being more the cautious type, he assumed it was the latter and increased his speed.

Just as Souran started another swing, the clang of the kunai hitting his puppet sounded, possibly telling Sakkaku what she needed to know. Then, to his surprise, she dodged his strike to the inside, coming within his guard. Before he could react, she had snagged his arm with her own bloodied ones and slung him halfway across the arena.

He flipped in the air, skidding to a stop on both feet. When he could, he spun, ready to start up his assault again, only slightly perturbed by the fact that he had let his guard down in his haste. To his shock, he found her finishing up a series of hand signs.

"Konshasu Gachin no Jutsu!" (Conscious Clash Jutsu)

Then, everything went black.

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There ya go, an eight-thousand word chapter. I hope that keeps you happy for a while cause I just got a flash of random inspiration for an _actual_ story, ya know the type that might get published and all (and don't even _say_ I can't get anything published cause some of the books I've seen out there…let's just say I write better than them and leave it at that). I at least want to get an outline of the plot and characters down before I continue writing on this, so it might be a bit of a wait.

I also feel it should be said that almost all of the Chuunin exam battles were completely random. The only one that wasn't was the first one (Taka vs. Nebin) and that's only because I've had that one planned ever since I started writing this fic. However, even the winner of that match was decided randomly. There are two matches that the winner was pre-chosen (though the match still wasn't) for plot purposes, so I apologize to the ones involved in those. I'm pretty sure you'll know which ones they are when they come around.

Anyway, thanks for reading and review please. :D

SSF out.


	17. The Mind's World

((Aye, aye, sorry for the long delay

((Aye, aye, sorry for the long delay. I told you I had a muse for a real story. I've already almost finished the complete outline of it, character designs, history, and all. Anyway, I was slowly writing on this throughout the whole thing. I'm hoping it didn't turn out too choppy. Anyway, enjoy your long awaited update.

**Disclaimer:** I may not own Naruto…But I do own _your mom._ (figuratively speaking of course)))

**The Mind's World**

Tsunade stood on the balcony, silently watching the fight below in mild curiosity. After all, it would be nice to know the abilities of some foreign nations more thoroughly.

On one side of her was Uzumaki Naruto, who seemed unusually anxious. The Hokage knew it was probably because his daughter was still in the exam, and he must've been excited to see how much she had advanced. Not only that, but his friends' children were also in it.

On the blond woman's other side were Nara Shikamaru and his wife, Nara Ino, the examiners for the first two parts of the test. While the male looked almost bored, his wife seemed overly excited. The Hokage almost sighed. Maybe those two weren't the best choices for proctors.

She was shocked out of her observations when Naruto suddenly jumped beside her. The Godaime gave him a curious look. He scowled, responding to the unasked question.

"The Mist nin took out my shadow clone."

That surprised the Fire Shadow. This certainly was no genin. Her eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

The special jounin frowned. "That's the scary part. I lost track of him for a few seconds, and, before I knew it, the shadow clone disappeared. I don't even have a clue how he did it."

Tsunade's eyes widened. To be able to evade Naruto's enhanced senses, courtesy of the Kyuubi, and then be able to incapacitate his clone…Who _was_ this guy?

Instinctively, she turned a glare on the young man's team. The female student looked on the fight before them haughtily, while the male kept himself quiet and conserved, almost secretive. Their sensei didn't help things with his heavy clothing covering much of his body and his eyes hardened in a dark stare. Additionally, none of them had reacted at all when the Mist nin had forfeited the exam, almost as if they weren't surprised or disturbed in the least by the choice.

She turned her head back to Naruto. "Send another shadow clone to search for him. Alert the ANBU in the area to keep an eye out but nothing more. We can't send out a full search squad without our visitors noticing."

The jounin nodded his agreement and made the necessary hand sign. After a small puff of chakra smoke, he stood there once more, unmoved. The Hokage smiled almost invisibly_. "Let's just hope he isn't expecting another hunter so soon,"_ she thought.

"Hokage-sama…" The blonde turned to face Shikamaru with an inquisitive look. "You should probably see this," he continued, nodding at the match below.

She followed his gaze in time to see the young Cloud nin finishing a series of hand seals. A moment later, both combatants slumped to the ground. A collective gasp ran through those watching as Sasuke started forward to check on the pair.

"Don't interfere!"

Everyone turned to stare in shock at the Cloud jounin.

"Neither of them is in any danger. It is merely the effect of her jutsu."

Temari, the Sand sensei, took a step forward from where she had been leaning on the wall. "Explain," she commanded. The man remained obstinately silent. Her anger peaked. "That is my student down there, and you _will_ tell me what is happening to him or-"

"Very well," he interrupted her mid-threat. "The jutsu sends both her own and the opponent's consciousnesses into another plane, where they do battle. There is no way to control the strength of your consciousness, for it takes into account variables such as stress and learning capacity, most of which you have no chance of enhancing. Whoever wins, whichever it may be, will return to normal consciousness, while the other lapses into temporary sleep."

"So, it's a gamble," concluded the female brunette on Kiba's team, Rei, if the kage remembered correctly.

"Hai."

Everyone was silent as they turned back to the arena, waiting for someone to wake up. After about thirty seconds, the patience of many of those in the room waned.

"How long is this going to take?" demanded Naruto's daughter, Hinashin, being the first to break.

The Cloud sensei remained calm as he responded. "At least five minutes, sometimes as long as three or four hours. The time flow of the other plane is always different from our own, so it's impossible to tell."

A collective moan ran through the entire crowd. "What are we supposed to do in the meantime? Asked an already becoming bored Hinashin.

The Kumo jounin shrugged. Then, the Godaime's eyes flashed with an idea. She reached into her robes and pulled out a deck of cards and a bottle of sake that she consistently carried around for cases such as these (along with cases involving mass amounts of paperwork). Naruto groaned next to her.

"Anyone up for a game of poker?"

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A woman of around thirty sat in her office, listening as her companion laughed. She stared at him patiently, her lavender hair flowing around her face to the back of her intricate Hyuuga robes. She didn't find this topic funny at all. In fact, it was the source of all her troubles.

At least _someone_ found it amusing.

"I can't believe those idiots think Naruto-sama is _that_ stupid," he laughed, his already wrinkled face crinkling even more with the gesture. "And what makes it funnier is that half of them _still_ believe he _is_ the Kyuubi, so they believe the _Kyuubi_ is that stupid!" He curled on himself, clutching his stomach; he was laughing so hard.

The woman watched her fellow Hyuuga, whose black hair was starting to gray, seriously until he finally slowed his breathing enough to speak earnestly. "Gomen, gomen, Hinata-sama. I know I shouldn't be laughing in a situation like this but their idiocy knows no bounds. I can't believe they actually expect Naruto-sama to go out of control over this ridiculous proposal that we _all_ know won't pass. You have too much support from the Branch House to let it."

Hinata's eyes narrowed. "Naruto-kun still won't take kindly to his daughter being threatened with a Caged Bird seal."

The other Hyuuga gazed back at her evenly. "Fair enough. You know him better than I do. But as long as you're the one to tell him, you can be there to stop any rash actions."

The Hyuuga Head sighed. "I hope so."

She sincerely hated having so much responsibility. It wasn't her style. She would rather follow than lead. Yet, when Naruto had finally acknowledged her and they had gotten together, against opposition from the Hyuuga elders mind you, he had convinced her to make her new goal, having accomplished her old one, be to obtain the respect of the whole clan. At first, she had been hesitant, even with the blond pushing her in that direction, but in the end, she decided it was a good idea.

She still wasn't sure whether she regretted that decision.

By then, she had found out that he was the vessel for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi. It had shocked her at first, but it _did_ explain all the glares and threats he received on a daily basis. This knowledge only bolstered her desire to show him the love and care he had gone without for the majority of his life.

About a year later, her icy father had given her the title of heir to the Hyuuga clan with finality and blessed her relationship with the Kyuubi container, actually _smiling_ in the process. This had silenced all opposition on both accounts. She would never get over how proud she was of her father for doing that.

Of course, that had started the battle to keep the Caged Bird seal off of Hanabi. Hinata had been forced to stand next to her father as Head and future Head of the clan, and even then, it hadn't been easy. Nearly the entirety of the Hyuuga had opposed the decision. Only Neji had supported them the whole way through. Some, like the man in front of her, had changed views after her father talked to them. Eventually, Hiashi, with Hinata's help, had gained enough support to use his position to prevent the seal from being placed on Hanabi. That was the first, and only, time Hinata had seen the girl cry, these being tears of happiness.

That had been the first time she had defied the clan advisory council.

Over the next few years, she had slowly adapted to the position. Hiashi retired the same year she and Naruto got married, allowing her to take over the clan.

Almost immediately, the council of elders tried to take over the Hyuuga guard, which had been created to protect and keep order in the clan long ago, always reporting directly to the clan Head. Hiashi had already warned her about the council's tests of power, but even _he_ hadn't expected them to make such a direct insult on her. Yet, having retired, he refused to get involved, saying she could take care of it herself. Naruto had already vowed not to get involved in order to marry her and thus, could only offer support from the sidelines.

Thus, she was left to deal with the issue alone.

She had denied the attempt with as much forcefulness as she could muster. As a result, the council turned to the guard to decide who it would report to. Seeing that refusing the compromise would alienate her from her fellow Hyuuga, she allowed it. That left the guard with the power to decide who in the clan would hold power over the other.

Thank Kami Neji had been a captain in the guard at that time. He managed to convince the others that the shy Hinata would grow into the position and was a better choice than the power hungry elders. It wasn't long before she had enough support to make the decision obvious.

Having lost the chance to gain power through the guard, the advisory council of elders began to push a change limiting the training a Branch shinobi could receive in the Jyuuken even more than it had been before, even though half of them were Branch members themselves. With this, they hoped to gain control of the Branch House to do as they would with it.

Confidence bolstered by her last success, Hinata opposed this as well. That action alone had earned her more support throughout the Branch House than anything else she could have done.

Fearing a revolt against them, the elders withdrew their proposal. With a little advice from Naruto, Hinata pressed her advantage, planning to slowly remove the hostility between Main and Branch Houses, and brought about the exact opposite of what the council had attempted, allowing Branch members to take on a much wider range of Jyuuken training. With the widespread support she now had among the Branch, the council could do little more than relent.

Since then, every time to council pushed to increase its power, she would do the reverse to them, putting a dent in that power each time, including the most recent one in which they tried to completely isolate Main housing from Branch housing, to which they were still resisting her counter of merging them together. You would think that by now they would have learned not to attempt such actions. Nevertheless, they still tried.

That brought her back to the man in front of her. She was lucky he supported her even though he was on the advisory council, the only one to do so. He often provided her with advanced knowledge of the council's actions and intentions so that she was ready when those actions were taken. Of course, she couldn't technically _react_ to it until the council took the initiative unless she wanted to send the message that a spy was among them. Frankly, she was amazed that he had been able to keep that fact unknown to all of them for the three years he had been on the council.

She brought her self out of her reverie to look at the spy in front of her. He had his Byakugan active and was moving his mouth silently as if speaking. Hinata realized he was probably talking to Neji to keep himself occupied – again – since both were skilled lip readers and, being her common bodyguard, Neji was often nearby. She shook her head. She really needed to stop going silent around this guy. Seeing him talk like that was disconcerting.

She cleared her throat, regaining his attention as he deactivated his kekkei genkai. "You said you had something else of concern," she stated, opening the topic.

He frowned. This was the main reason he had come to see her but… "You're not going to like this, Hinata-sama." He paused until she nodded for him to continue. "The council has decided to take a more direct approach than diplomacy in getting rid of Naruto."

Her eyes narrowed. "How so?"

The older Hyuuga sighed. How to say this gently… "They want to force his hand against a member of the Hyuuga family…by kidnapping Hinashin-chan."

Hinata's eyes went wide, and she was on her feet in less than half a second. The fury in her now activated Byakugan was all her companion needed to know what she had to say.

"Now, calm down, Hinata-sama." He used his hands to put motion to his words. "Nothing concrete has been decided yet. We've got plenty of time to come up with a counter-plan."

He flinched back as she glared at him. She never had been able to handle serious threats to her precious people calmly. It was the one thing that made her _truly_ angry. This occasion just so happened to involve both of her most precious people.

Slowly, she softened her gaze, though the fire remained, and sat down. She sighed. "Do we know how they're going to do this?"

The man shook his head. "It's still only an idea at this point, but if it does go through, they'll probably use a distant Branch member, loyal to them, to 'attempt to kidnap her' right in front of him, without harming her, in order to force him into action. They hope he'll at least cause bodily harm to the person, if not more. It'll turn into a battle of words between Naruto-sama and most of the Hyuuga clan nobles. Though Hokage-sama will probably believe Naruto-sama, the half of the village that still sees him as the Kyuubi would undoubtedly see it as a just cause to kick him out of the clan.

Hinata scowled. Figured they'd try to take advantage of the village's consistent animosity toward the blond. "I'll have Neji-nii-san keep an eye on Hinashin."

The Branch House elder smiled. "No problem. He's already agreed to it. While he does that, I'll be working on a more advantageous counter-plan."

"Hai." The Hyuuga Head smiled at him. "Thank you for the information, Hiroshi-san."

Hiroshi recognized the dismissal but didn't leave. He still had one more worry to tell her of before he did.

"Hinata-sama…" She looked at him curiously. "If we are to prevent this new event from occurring, it would surely alert the council to the fact that they have a spy among them. It will only be a matter of time until they realize that it is me." He saw her grimace. Understandable since she would be losing her source of early information. "I realize it is a necessity. I was only warning you in advance." He stood up and started for the door. "Good day, Hinata-sama."

With that, he walked out, leaving Hinata to her flustered thoughts. The advisory council had pushed her into a corner this time. She could either risk losing her husband or risk losing her information. Of course, the choice was obvious; they wouldn't kill a spy within the council after all, just expel him from the nobility. She would just have to work blind as she had to begin with.

She looked up, unsurprised when Neji entered through the window silently. They stared at each other a moment before the Hyuuga genius spoke. "You're worried about them." There was no question in that statement because they both knew it was true.

Hinata sighed exhaustedly. "All this on top of Hinashin-chan's first chuunin exam…"

Neji was quick to reply. "I'm more than willing to look over her, Hinata-sama."

"I know…But I don't want you to take time from training with Nebin to watch my daughter. It isn't fair to either of you."

The genius stared at her silently. He had long since accepted that the lives of Main House were more important than his son's training. Besides, other people could train Nebin.

As if reading his mind, the clan Head continued. "Someone else can guard Hinashin." Neji almost sighed. She thought too much of others, all the way to the end.

"I can do it." The two Hyuuga turned to the door to see an adult Hanabi staring at them. Neither was all that surprised.

Hinata's eyes brightened considerably though. "You will, Imoto-chan?"

"Hai, Onee-san."

"Oh, thank Kami. Thank you, Hanabi-chan." She let out a sigh of relief, slouching behind her desk. The stress was really getting to her. And the chuunin exams…

Neji raised an eyebrow. "You're worried about Naruto and Hinashin." It was an observation, but the Hyuuga Head responded anyway.

"Hai."

"Aren't you the _least _bit curious as to why I came?" growled an irritated Hanabi, not used to being ignored.

Hinata looked at her exhaustedly. "Go on, Hanabi-chan."

"The second stage of the exams is over and both Hinashin and Nebin passed." Hinata sighed in relief again. "However, there were so many that made it through that they had to have a preliminary round." The Head of the clan groaned. Neji stood next to her as impassive as ever, though somewhat curious. "There's only been one fight so far…" She let it hang in the air, being purposefully suspenseful.

"Between…?" Hinata egged her on.

"Some Koudoukou Taka and-" She stared directly at Neji to judge his response as she continued. "-Nebin."

No response from the Hyuuga genius.

Hinata, however, had become anxious. "How'd he do?"

Hanabi continued to watch Neji as she answered. "He won, but he had to be taken to the infirmary because, for unknown reasons, he couldn't move half of his body afterwards."

Neji slowly turned toward the clan Head, face still impassive. Hinata stared back, understanding what he wanted. "You don't need my permission. Go!"

Without a second thought, the genius was out the window. Hanabi smirked. She _knew_ he had emotions. It was just hard to evoke them.

"Imoto-chan," began Hinata, grabbing the younger Hyuuga's attention, "How do you know all of this? That information is supposed to be classified until all of the finalists are chosen."

Hanabi only smirked.

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A figure crouched, staring down at the arena below him. The very boring arena. He was having an incredibly hard time sitting still. In fact, his legs were starting to cramp up due to lack of space above the ceiling tiles he was on. Normally, this wouldn't bother him because he would be distracted by the battle below. Unfortunately, both combatants were in heaps on the ground with Uchiha Sasuke watching over them, making them very dull.

At least he had been allowed to stay. 'Allowed' because he was relatively sure that the Hokage, as well as most of the jounin, no doubt including his former teammate, had sensed his presence and was ignoring him.

Ignoring him, in fact, and playing poker. Along with the majority of the room. There were a few exceptions, which included the lazier or more hyper-active genin and the Cloud sensei.

The man could only thank Kami the recommendation of strip poker by the genin with the green hair had been quickly voted down.

The man sighed, wiping his runny nose, as he stared, bored, at the scene below. He was quickly getting annoyed. Not only did he have nothing to do, but he had no information to transfer over to his other teammate to be told to their closer friends. That would disappoint her. And he knew how she hated being disappointed.

He shivered at the pain she would no doubt inflict upon him. Perhaps, it was a good thing that he was in such an isolated location. He shifted silently, wiping the snot from his nose on his specially designed sleeve, allowing it to absorb the fluid. He adjusted his glasses as he settled into a more comfortable position. If the boredom was going to last a while, may as well make it more bearable. Udon brought out the orange book Konohamaru had told him to read and, with a reluctant sigh, opened it.

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Nebin glared at the wall opposite the bed he lay in. The completely white, boring hospital wall. He might have to hurt someone if nothing interesting happened within the next few minutes. Being stuck in the infirmary, in the same room as the one who had done this to him, for almost half an hour was not good for his patience.

Luckily for him, his father chose this time to enter the room. As Neji closed the door behind him, the two stared at each other in silence. Nebin remained still as his father approached his bed. The elder Hyuuga observed his son for a few seconds before speaking.

"You can move." This was an obvious statement, even though the hospitalized youth had yet to move. Nebin nodded, raising his arm in front of him effortlessly, clenching his fist.

"It wore off after five minutes."

"Good. When will you be dismissed?"

Nebin had to restrain a scowl. "Whenever she wakes up and tells them what she did to me."

He watched his father stare momentarily at the redheaded girl in the bed next to him. "64 palms."

The younger Hyuuga nodded. "Just before she disabled me."

Neji turned a slightly confused and intrigued gaze to his son. "How did she manage that?"

Nebin frowned. "She activated a jutsu before I struck that seemed to have a delayed reaction. It paralyzed two of my limbs, making me unable to stand."

The elder Hyuuga took on a thoughtful look. "Hm…It's too bad I will be unable to observe this ability in action during the next round."

The boy glared at his father. "Well, I, for one, am _glad_ I won," he declared, slightly miffed.

Neji smirked. _"Just like his mother,"_ he thought lovingly. "But you obviously still need more training." The genin scowled, causing the adult to smile. "But I am proud of your victory."

When Neji walked out of the room, he left a very surprised and happy Nebin behind.

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Souran stared blankly into the empty darkness. He lost all sense of time as he seemed to float in the black abyss, his mind a total blank.

Then, suddenly, a single light popped into existence; so far away, it was only a tiny speck. As the Suna nin stared at it, one thought flashed through his disturbingly empty mind.

"_I was fighting…"_

He paused. More tiny lights appeared around the first, almost like stars in a night's sky, as his thought process continued.

"_I was fighting a Cloud kunoichi in the chuunin exams…"_

A giant, gray orb appeared next to him, similar to the moon, adding to the astrological image. More details flooded him.

"_I was winning. She was almost trapped. And then…What happened?"_

A voice, coming from nowhere and yet everywhere, boomed around him. "I brought you here."

Souran frowned at the vaguely recognizable, female voice, his befuddled mind unable to understand. The voice continued, "Oh, come on! You can't have forgotten already."

A figure appeared in front of him. Its long purple hair was held back by a Kumo hitai-ate all the way down to the middle of her back, melding with the purple of her shirt. Her belt held a couple of weapons' pouches, along with holding up her black pants. All of the wounds recently inflicted were gone, replaced by un-torn clothes and skin.

He glared at her. "You!" He paused as he heard his own deep, monotonic voice. "I can talk?!" He recoiled in shock. Excitement and confusion welled up inside him. "I can talk!" His happiness at that simple fact almost overrode any sense of curiosity and suspicion he had. Luckily, he still had some common sense. "But how?" he inquired, turning toward his opponent.

Sakkaku grinned back at him. "This is your mind, or more specifically, your subconscious." Souran's eyebrow rose in curiosity. "I brought the two of us here with my jutsu."

The Sand nin tilted his head in slight confusion. "So that's what your jutsu did?"

"Yup!" She smiled at him. "And your subconscious can tell a lot about you. For example, the fact that you can speak says that you wish you could communicate more effectively in reality-"

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Souran before she could go on a rant. "What's the point of bringing me here? It's obviously not to learn more about me. So what? Are our wills going to face off or something?"

Sakkaku smirked. "Close, but if that was true, I'd lose every time I use it. No, our consciousnesses are going to do battle. Already are actually. But we have no control over it, so it doesn't matter."

The Sand shinobi blinked. "So, we're fighting right now?"

The Kumo kunoichi shrugged. "So to speak."

"Who's winning then?"

"Couldn't tell ya."

"Say what?"

"Couldn't tell ya. I haven't a clue who's winning. Never do until it's almost over, when one of us starts to lose energy."

"Lose energy?"

The Cloud genin sighed. "Eventually, one of our consciousnesses will wear the other one out. Until then, we're stuck in your subconscious."

Souran stared at her. "Okay…Why mine?"

Her eyebrow rose slightly. "Why your subconscious?" He nodded. "Because the jutsu sends my consciousness at your body, which forces your own mind to withdraw within itself so it can defend itself."

The Sand nin looked thoughtful. "Interesting…Would that mean we're out cold in the real world.

The girl grinned. "Exactly."

"Then, did we tie?"

"I doubt it. My sensei should have told them what the jutsu does so they won't interrupt the match. Whoever comes out of this awake will win. Any more questions?"

"A couple…How long has it been since you activated the jutsu?"

The purple haired kunoichi shrugged. "Dunno. Time tends to flow differently here than in reality."

Souran eyed her curiously. "Okay…Now what exactly are we supposed to do until the jutsu ends?"

Sakkaku shrugged. "I usually just end up talking with the enemy. Nothing else to do since the mind's natural defenses won't allow us to fight."

"Okay…What are we going to talk _about?_"

"Well, figure since you've had your turn with the questions, I'll ask a few of my own."

"Fair enough."

"How old are you? I'm 13 by the way."

"14"

"Why do you wear make-up?"

Souran gritted his teeth. "It's traditional war paint," he stated venomously.

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Then, she smirked. "You should know that you're surprisingly hot without it."

The Suna genin felt a blush crawl onto his cheeks as his hand came up to touch his face. Wait. Without it? When did it come off? He looked down at his body to find himself without his spider outfit. Instead, he wore a suit with white undershirt and khakis. His brow furrowed in confusion. "Wha…?"

As if reading his mind, Sakkaku answered. "The image that appears in your subconscious is the one that best matches your personality and characteristics. I assume yours reflects your seriousness and your intelligence."

The male tilted his head slightly. "Then, why didn't you change any?"

The Kumo genin grinned. "I based my real world looks on those of my subconscious."

Souran looked intrigued. "What else can you tell based on the subconscious?"

"Well…"

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Ryoushi hung limply in his dark prison, his hands chained to the wall behind him. His legs lay uselessly on the ground. He had no energy left. The torture sessions he was put through always left him inches from death. Today's had been no different. Even with an hour to recover, he could still barely move. It didn't help that there was some sort of chakra-draining seal on the metal binding his wrists to the wall.

Life as a prisoner seriously sucked.

He could only assume his living teammate, Iribu, was going through something similar. She could live through that, he was sure. Question was did she want to? He hadn't really gotten the chance to speak with her after Kinome's death. He could only hope she hadn't fallen into a depression.

He was interrupted from his ponderings by a clanking at the door as of keys entering the lock. He lifted his head weakly. It couldn't be food; he had received that just before the last session. What else did they come for? Surely it wasn't more pain. He'd barely recovered from the last one!

He summoned what little strength he had to glare at the door.

He was surprised when a figure that he didn't recognize with black hair traveling down to his mid-back entered, a finger across his lips in a 'shush' motion. He slid across the wall, closing the door quietly beside him. Then, he walked toward the chained figure, his feet barely making a sound against the stone floor.

He stopped in front of Ryoushi with an appraising look. "Talk quietly, or we'll get caught," the figure said in a conversational tone. The prisoner stared at him in shock.

"How-?" he started in his normal tone, only to be interrupted.

"_Quietly_."

Confused, Ryoushi began again in a whisper. "How did you get in here? Who are you? And why do you get to speak so loudly?"

"I am Bangai Hason, a servant of Otokage-sama, come here to investigate you and your teammate. The guards outside are under a genjutsu that prevents them from seeing or hearing me or anything directly attached to me, as long as they don't know about my presence, I don't make too much noise, and I don't touch them. Unfortunately, they can still hear you."

"How'd you get the key without touching them?"

Hason's eyebrows rose. "You think they're the only ones with keys? I took these from the pathetic idiot up front." He held up a set of keys to jingle softly in the air. Ryoushi's eyes lit up with cautious hope.

"Okay, what do you want with me?"

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere. You were hired by someone to capture a team of genin from the Leaf, yes?"

Having already confessed this to Ibiki, he figured one more person knowing wouldn't matter. The trapped hunter nodded weakly.

"That someone was from the Sound." He paused, as if that was supposed to mean something to the prisoner. All he got was a blank stare. Slightly miffed, he continued. "We have a deal for you. We'll get you out of here if you agree to keep serving Otokage-sama."

"So-"

"Whisper, please."

"Gomen. So it's no freedom in exchange for limited freedom?" The Sound nin nodded. Well, it was better than nothing. "Deal."

Hason grinned. "Good. Shall I get your companion as well?"

"Please."

"I shall pose the same options to her then. It will be up to her whether she accepts or declines."

"Very well."

The Oto shinobi's face became impassive. "Unfortunately, there are too many guards out there for me to act now. I must wait for a more opportune moment."

Ryoushi scowled mentally, lacking the strength to do so on the physical plane. "When will that come?"

Hason smirked. "Just give me a few weeks. The explosions should tip you off."

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"This lack of a sun and earth is curious in a subconscious that so resembles space," commented Sakkaku, motioning toward the present moon and stars. "Perhaps it means you lack a guiding light and a place where you can dig your roots in."

Souran looked skeptical. "And you know this because…?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "I don't _know_. It's all speculation. It actually depends on what it means to _you_, though few people can honestly figure it out."

"Hm…I think I like facts more."

She shrugged again. "Better than nothing." Then, she sighed. "Seems like the jutsu's almost over. I can feel myself weakening. You've won."

As she said this, Souran could see her form starting to fade. He gave her a half-forced smile. "It was nice to finally talk to someone."

Sakkaku raised an eyebrow. "Too bad it's over, huh?" The Sand genin nodded. She could feel herself losing consciousness. "One more thing before I go…" She smirked. "Are you single?"

The boy looked taken aback. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. He settled for an uncertain nod as he saw her figure disappear from view.

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Taru lay staring at the ceiling of the arena calmly with Hana asleep on her chest. It was nice to be able to relax, especially when there was supposed to be a battle going on below.

"I wish we could see the clouds," said the figure laying an arm's length to her left lazily.

She smiled. "Hai. Too much of a pain to go outside though."

The figure only grunted its agreeance. The two fell silent among the tumult of gambling going on around them.

Nearly everyone had joined the poker game, most from sheer boredom. It seemed that since strip poker was out of the picture they had started betting the weapons they carried with them, mostly kunai and shuriken, since few of them carried a lot of money on them. A few people only watched, unwilling to let go of their precious weaponry. Others, like themselves were completely ignoring the game and were off on their own. Taru recognized Rei from the academy playing with the panther that was apparently her partner as one example of this. Only the proctor and Cloud sensei remained watching the two unconscious forms in the ring below.

But who could blame everyone? It _had_ been almost two hours. Watching two people sleep wasn't exactly entertaining either.

To begin with, Taru had been relaxing on her own. A few minutes into it, the guy had laid down next to her. With the exception of a few interruptions from teammates (One such occurrence was Kizui trying to convince her to join the game of poker. She knew better.), they had remained in a comfortable silence the entire time. She rather enjoyed it. Perhaps she should see if she couldn't spend more time with this guy.

First step: introduction.

"Name's Taru," she claimed in typical lazy fashion.

Without even moving, the boy responded. "Rokuden." Seemed like he was just as easy-going as she was.

Second step: seeing if he was interested.

"Think we could do this again after the exams?" Rokuden asked, surprising her by beating her to the punch. In fact, he had skipped step two and gone straight to step three: asking if he would.

She looked sideways at him curiously. The light blush on his cheeks didn't escape her notice even though he continued to stare at the ceiling, away from her. Realizing she had been about to do the same thing, she blushed as well, looking upwards once more.

"Sounds relaxing."

She noticed him glance at her and smile softly before returning to his previous position.

They stayed like that, silent, for a few more minutes until both heard the Cloud sensei curse. Assuming the jutsu was over, the pair sat up simultaneously, with Taru catching Hana in her arms, to look down at the combatants.

The Sand genin slowly stood up to his full height, while the kunoichi remained lifeless. The proctor wasted no time in ending the match, no doubt tired of the boredom.

"Winner: Souran no Suna!"


	18. Flash Fights

((Alright

((Alright. I did my best to make sure this chapter came out relatively quickly. It isn't the longest I've written by any means, but I hope it'll keep you occupied.

Up until this chapter, the battles have been relatively long. These next few, that isn't so. I guess I'm trying to get to the battles with the characters you all reviewed with. I think you'll see what I mean when you read.

Disclaimer: I do not own any ramen. Unfortunately, that leaves me with nothing to use as bait when I try to capture Naruto and take him for my own. tear I guess I'll just have to keep on not owning Naruto…))

**Flash Fights**

The first thing Taka felt when she awoke was a searing pain throughout her entire body. Her back arched painfully as her body attempted to cope with the new sensations. Almost immediately, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and stomach, soothing the fire. She heard words spoken in an unrecognizable voice but couldn't tell what was said. A second later, she felt a needle pull out of her upper arm.

Gradually, she settled back onto a soft bed as the pain lessened. She had to restrain her heavy breathing in order to keep her chest from hurting. Suddenly, she heard the same voice that had spoken before once more.

"Are you alright?"

She took a second to gather herself before merely nodding, her eyes still closed. It was a moment before she got a response.

"Sorry about that. I was a little slow getting your pain meds in, and I guess inserting the needle initiated your nerves to start transmitting."

Taka only groaned.

"I had to use some of my medical chakra to ease the pain. The meds should kick in soon, so it'll be easier on you," the voice explained cautiously.

Her eyes shot open. Beside her stood a male medic nin with glasses on. He flinched back from her glare.

"Will it put me out?" she demanded.

The medic nodded slowly. "Like a light."

The redhead scowled viciously. "Then, I don't want it."

The man beside her raised an eyebrow. "You'd rather feel the pain you felt when you first woke up?"

Taka grimaced. She wasn't sure which would be worse. In the end, she just remained silent.

"Anyway," began the medic nin, feeling a little more comfortable, "I'll leave you to your rest." Here, he turned around and held out his hand. "Thank you for you help, Hyuuga-san, while I kept her calm."

Taka caught sight of the syringe being placed in the healer's hand. As the medic turned to leave, he spoke side-long to her. "Now, sleep. You'll need your energy to heal quickly."

She scowled as he left the room. Like she'd listen to him. She sat up immediately, wincing when a wave of pain rushed through her. Supporting herself on her hands, she turned to see her former opponent, Nebin, sitting calmly in the bed next to her. He raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going to rest?"

Taka snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Not in this life." She stopped to push herself to the edge of the bed so that her legs were hanging off the side. He saw her bite her lip through another wave of pain.

"What did that jutsu do to me?" he asked her suddenly.

Distracted from her pain for the moment, she sat up straight. "What did yours do to _me?"_

The edge of Nebin's mouth rose in a partial smile. "It cut off chakra flow through your coils to most of your body."

The redhead scowled. "Well, mine did something similar with a surge of chakra that temporarily disabled your nerves. As you can see, it doesn't last long. You're perfectly fine now."

A short silence invaded the area until Taka spoke again.

"Any idea how the fights after ours have gone?"

The Hyuuga gave her an odd look. "Actually, I've heard rumors that the fight immediately following ours is still in progress."

"And it has been…?"

"Two hours."

"What!?" shouted the Koudoukou, flinching when it cause a slight pang in her neck. "But how!?"

Nebin appraised her quickly. "I don't know, but I can check."

"Please."

"Byakugan!" the long haired genin whispered, activating his kekkei genkai. He quickly scanned the nearby halls before finding the door to the arena. He looked through and found both combatants on the ground with chakra flowing abnormally through their bodies.

"Hm…It's the Cloud kunoichi vs. the taller Sand genin. They're both unconscious, apparently under a jutsu, but the proctor seems to be waiting for something before he calls the match."

Taka gave him a blank look.

Just then, the chakra within the male fighter stabilized. Gradually, he got to his feet. "Scratch that. The Suna nin just won."

The redhead glared at him mildly. "You're not very good at relaying information."

As the female combatant was carted off in a stretcher, Nebin returned his attention to the room around him, raising an eyebrow at his companion but not saying anything.

Suddenly, the girl pushed herself up onto her wobbly legs and attempted to walk toward the door. Unfortunately, after only two steps, her legs gave out beneath her, causing her to fall sideways.

Before she could hit the ground, Nebin was beside her, holding her around the waist to support her. "You should rest. You need to regain your strength."

"Pfft. I'm not going to lay here while my friends fight. I _at least_ owe them a cheer or two. Besides, I want to know what's going on, and you make a terrible announcer."

The Hyuuga raised an eyebrow, ignoring the barb at the end. "The doctors won't let you."

"Screw the doctors," Taka declared vehemently. "If they keep me here, I'll just disturb the other patients."

Nebin laughed slightly. "Determined, aren't you?" At her answering nod, he felt his respect for her increase slightly. "Let me help you there then."

The redhead look surprised as he pulled her arm around his shoulder so he could take more of her weight but didn't protest.

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Suta stared after Sakkaku blankly as she was carried out of the room. She had lost. That wasn't good. Granted, she was the weakest on the team. Still, with the thrashing she received, he now _really_ hoped he wouldn't have to face that Sand genin later.

He glanced at Uppun. His companion's stony expression was all he had to see to know that he had vowed to win in Sakkaku's honor. Typical of him.

He could also sense his sensei's irritation behind him. He frowned. That could only mean the next training session would be torture, at least for his female teammate.

Suta scowled as he saw the Sand team congratulation their companion, who had returned to the balcony. It was only luck that he had won! Why should they be so happy about that? The short genin found himself hoping he would face one of them so that he could show them what should _really_ make them happy.

"Ha!" Suta was startled by the exclamation. He turned to his side to find Magusa smirking predatorily down at him. "Now, I get to kick your ass and take Hari-kun for myself."

Confused, the Cloud genin noticed Katame, standing next to a very pale Hari, motioning toward the electronic board that determined the combatants.

Kadai Sutamina vs. Sakana Magusa

Suta couldn't help the grin that came to his face. That was even _better_ than fighting one of the Suna nin. Now, he could put that annoying girl in her place, getting some much needed stress relief in the process.

"Try not to kill each other." Hari's voice coming out as a whisper made him sound surprisingly helpless.

Magusa smiled at him. "I'll try," she claimed encouragingly.

Suta just snorted with a brief, "If I have to…"

The two of them walked down the stairs to the battlefield below side by side, trading insults as they went.

"I'll wipe the floor with you, shrimp."

"You wish, ugly." Magusa's cheeks puffed angrily at that. "You'll be less than a bloody pulp by the time I'm finished with you. Hari won't even be able to recognize you."

The kunoichi scowled. "At least Hari-kun _cares_ about me. Unlike you."

Suta sent her a glare. "At this point, that doesn't matter. Though, now that you mention him, we could always give him to the winner."

Magusa sneered at him. "Fine. Maybe it'll make your pea-sized brain finally understand how weak you really are."

The boy laughed. "We'll see about that, ugly."

The kunoichi scowled as they separated to go stand on opposite sides of the proctor. Sasuke could sense the tension between the pair as they stared each other down, quickly asking if they were ready. When both nodded, he raised his hand and brought it down in front of him.

"Hajime!" (Begin)

Suta immediately reached into his sunflower seed pouch, drawing a few of the seeds. In one fluid motion, he pumped chakra into the seeds, transforming them into shuriken-like weapons, and threw them at his opponent.

She cart-wheeled out of the way, starting a set of hand seals before she was even upright. She finished just as she landed on her feet and reared her head back. "Suiton: Mizutama no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu) She forced her head forward, mouth open, causing a large ball of water to burst forth.

The Kumo nin smirked. Without moving his feet, he tossed two more seeds in front of him and crossed his arms, as if knowing he wouldn't be touched.

As the water came within a foot of the seeds, it converged on them. It disappeared into the seeds, causing them to grow into full sunflower plants in mid-air. When each one hit the ground, its roots dug in between the stones of the floor, seeking soil.

Suta grinned when he saw the panicked look on his opponent's face. He stepped forward so that each foot was near the stem of a plant. The flowers jerked to attention, rotating their heads to face the Mist kunoichi.

"This battle was over before it even began," he declared, starting his own set of hand signs. Magusa stared at him in horror. She knew her water jutsu wouldn't work. What else could she do?

She stood glued in place until the young male concluded his seals, shouting. "Tane Renda no Jutsu." (Seed Barrage Jutsu)

On reflex, she cart-wheeled again. Unfortunately, the senbon-like weapons that shot from the head of each flower were too spread out for her to dodge completely. She winced as part of her right side received various cuts. She landed with a stumble, her right leg burning with pain.

She scowled, launching a few shuriken in an effort to stall for time. Each one was easily deflected by a seed shuriken from her opponent. She hesitantly started a set of hand signs for one of the few jutsu she knew that had a chance of working on him, a genjutsu.

Her opponent raised an eyebrow. "You think you can get off something useful?" He quickly launched a set of chakra enhanced seeds. Magusa was forced to dodge, interrupting her seals.

She continued to evade him as he threw weapon after weapon. She was careful to avoid landing hard on her injured right foot. Fortunately, dodging was one of her specialties. Eventually, she chanced a glance at her opponent to see a slightly annoyed expression on his face. She took a little satisfaction from that as she returned her full attention to evasion.

About a minute later, the assault finally stopped. The Mist kunoichi landed softly, letting out a relaxing breath and wiping her sweating brow. She grinned at her opponent, who stood stock still. "Ha! Now you're out of weapons!"

Sutamina, raised an eyebrow at that, reaching into his pocket. "Actually, I'm not," he claimed, pulling out another bag of sunflower seeds. Magusa grimaced as he ripped it open and plopped one into his mouth. "But I'm not gonna need any more."

The girl scowled. "Shouldn't you be out of chakra after constantly pumping it into those seeds of yours?"

The Cloud genin waved her question off nonchalantly. "It takes only a miniscule amount for each one of those. Though, it is unfortunate that I have to use my kekkei genkai against you. One of my favorites, too…"

The Kiri nin's eye twitched. "You'll pay for that insult, brat," she declared venomously, starting a set of seals.

Suta shook his head sadly. "You still don't realize that you've already lost." Suddenly, he spiked his chakra, his muscles tensing with the strain. A second later, every shuriken seed spread throughout the arena burst into a rapid growth spurt, creating a forest of sunflowers in a matter of moments.

The seeds closest to Magusa immediately latched onto her legs, holding her in place. She struggled fruitlessly as the plants grew up and around her and screamed when they grew _through_ her. One pierced her violently through the lower pelvis, while another dug into her shoulder. Her horrified, pain filled voice echoed around the arena until everything around her went black.

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Sokudo stared in stunned silence as his teammate was surrounded by vegetation, along with most of the battlefield. He caught sight of the proctor jumping up to their level to avoid the unique jutsu. The scream that pierced his ears barely registered compared to the display of power before him.

How could someone that looked like such a kid be so powerful? He was a skinny little runt! Yet, he had this powerful a jutsu. And he used it against an enemy he was beating, as if it wasn't even his strongest.

Furthermore, the kid had barely taken two steps the entire match. It was as if he had done it on purpose, too. His opponent hadn't even gotten close to him.

This boy was astounding.

Sokudo barely registered the proctor jumping back into the mess and cutting his teammate free, calling for the medics. Before he knew it, there was a path cut from the injured combatant to the infirmary. Sokudo stared at his companion's bleeding form as she was treated by the medics and then carried off on a stretcher.

"Winner: Kadai Sutamina!" This announcement was met with various murmurs among the more talkative genin. "There will be a short intermission while I clear the arena for the remaining fights."

It wasn't until Magusa's opponent left the forest and began walking up the stairs toward them that Sokudo realized that his teammate may die. A cold fury engulfed him. He had to bite his lip to prevent himself from attacking the shrimp there and then, even knowing some of his potential power. If she died, he'd have hell to pay, no matter the consequences to himself!

He glanced at Toukan to find him staring back at him with as close to amusement as he had ever seen. Sokudo scowled. Damn him and his love of pain!

He looked back at his sensei. Subaya returned the hard gaze before nodding, silently telling him that his teacher would go check on Magusa's wounds. A second later, the man was gone.

"Taka-chan!"

The blue haired genin spun towards Hari and quickly followed the direction he was running to see the redheaded Koudoukou being given a piggy-back ride up the stairs by the Hyuuga she had fought. In her hands was a pair of crutches that she would no doubt use when the two reached the top.

Sokudo let out a soft sigh of relief. He would never admit it, but he had been worried about the girl. He justified this by telling himself he couldn't lose his rival, but in his heart, he knew it was more. How much more, he didn't know. That still didn't stop the healthy dose of denial he received every time he thought about it though.

He watched silently as Hari approached the two. "Are you alright?" Taka nodded. "Do you want any help?"

She tossed the crutches to him. "Catch."

He did so awkwardly, frowning. "You don't want _me_ to give you a piggy-back ride?" he teased, the edges of his mouth threatening to rise.

The redhead laughed. "I think I'd rather trust an unknown ally than a known pervert."

The green haired genin grinned, turning toward the others. "Taka's back!"

Taka chuckled as a small number of people went to meet her at the top of the stairs. Sokudo held back, not wanting to openly show any sort of affection with so many people around. He didn't care much at the moment for the lighthearted chatter that was going on anyway.

He turned back toward the arena below. He was surprised to see that the entire mass of green had been cut down and stacked on one side, burning in an enormous fire. A moment later, the proctor used a water jutsu to put out the flame, leaving only a large, charred mass in its place. The Uchiha walked back to the middle of the battlefield. "The arena has been cleared. We shall now continue."

Sokudo stared at the changing board, silently marveling at the proctor's speed, even with such a simple, though tedious, task. He was surprised when he saw the names that appeared.

Uchiha Koukatsu vs. Kihou Sokudo

He grinned predatorily. An Uchiha. Despite their incredible speed and abilities, as evidenced below, their kekkei genkai had one distinct flaw to his knowledge. They had to be able to see their opponent to use it.

His own jutsu would be perfect against him.

He turned to the stairs and started walking with a confident smirk. By then, the cluster of genin at the top had dispersed, Taka using the crutches to aid her weakened body. As he passed by her, she spoke quietly.

"Good luck."

He gave her a quick nod before striding purposefully down the steps. He stopped in the center, facing Koukatsu.

The fact that the proctor was also an Uchiha meant little. If anything, he would be more likely to end the match early in his favor for fear of harm coming to his younger relative, possibly even child. Not to mention the extra pressure the boy would have on him to win.

This would be a fun fight. Plus a way to relieve tension.

Sokudo and Koukatsu stared each other down as the proctor started the match, having already received the okay from each of them.

"Hajime!"

Almost immediately, the young Uchiha activated his two tomoe Sharingan. The blue haired Mist genin only raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so you can see my actions a few moments ahead of time," he began with sarcastic indifference, "That's going to make such a _huge_ difference in this battle."

The raven haired genin scowled. Sokudo smirked. Antagonizing was always such fun.

He was almost caught off guard when his opponent Shunshined behind him. Koukatsu jabbed his kunai into the Kiri shinobi's back, only to be blinded by a puff of chakra smoke. His weapon collided with another piece of metal before he could start looking around the stadium for his foe's new location, knowing that he had used Kawarimi (Substitution).

As the smoke cleared and he still couldn't find him, the Konoha genin scowled.

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Shino had to admit: he was relieved when Taka returned from the infirmary, though he doubted the doctors had given her leave willingly. The fact that one had come up the stairs a minute after she had arrived, watching her closely, only supported this hypothesis. That, in itself, was comforting, considering how Taka tended to be.

Frankly, he was surprised she could even stand after the Jyuuken assault she had received, even with help from her crutches. He assumed that was why she was leaning against the wall, putting much of her weight on the metal objects.

Not that he had been _worried_ about her. In fact, he had a bug still attached to her that could feel her heart rate. It reported the whole time that the organ had beat near a healthy once per second. No, he wasn't concerned with that knowledge.

He just hoped there was no serious tissue damage.

The fact that the medics had let her out of the infirmary at all seemed to suggest that there wasn't.

Shino noticed that Hari had become visibly more energetic, though he was still more subdued than usual, probably because of the previous fight. Katame also seemed less tense, but it was hard to tell with that girl, even for him occasionally.

As the next battle began below (accompanied by incredibly loud cheering from the Uchiha's blond teammate), the bug user saw Taka take a tentative step away from the wall, looking at the arena curiously. Shino sensed, more than saw, the use of a Shunshin, followed by a Kawarimi.

He was stunned to see one of his student's crutches disappear with the use of the Substitution. Before Taka could even begin to fall, she was caught around the waist by an arm, joined by a hand over her mouth to cover her startled yelp. Without even thinking about it, there was a kunai in the bug user's hand as he recognized Sokudo as the one who appeared, the redhead struggling slightly in his grip.

The boy quickly spoke, sending a placating glance to both Shino and the medic standing near him. "Sh. Sh. You're fine. I'm not going to hurt you."

The kikai host could tell that the last part was meant mostly for his sake. Taka slowly calmed down in his grasp, allowing him to release her mouth, though the arm remained around her waist, supposedly for support since he had taken one of her crutches.

"Sorry about that," he whispered, barely loud enough for the jounin to hear. "He was faster than I expected. Had to use a substitution with something vaguely out in the open."

Taka nodded her understanding.

By then, most of the higher level ninja in the room had seen him, as well as a couple of the more observant genin, Katame included, though everyone was staying quiet about it as of yet, respecting the boy's strategy.

"I suggest you lean toward your other crutch," Sokudo continued quietly.

She did so, murmuring a, "Kick his ass for me," under her breath.

Shino noticed the boy give his student a light squeeze before letting go and rushing around her, holding up a single hand sign.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Mist Jutsu)

The last thing the special jounin saw before his sight and communication with his bugs was disrupted by the chakra enhanced mist was Taka's face turning a bright red. From embarrassment or anger, he couldn't tell.

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An Uchiha's Sharingan can see through just about any genjutsu. Additionally, it can predict an enemy's taijutsu movements and copy any ninjutsu an opponent uses. It can even submit subtle suggestions into a foe's mind.

Of course, the Uchiha has to be able to _see_ the enemy for most of this to work, preferably be able to look into their eyes.

Koukatsu had known Sokudo would use Kawarimi. He didn't know where to, but he knew it would happen that was why he had attempted to strike too quickly for him to be able to use it.

Unfortunately, his opponent had been fast enough to still pull it off.

That had gotten the Mist nin out of the Uchiha's Sharingan effects.

Things had only gone downhill for the Konoha shinobi since then.

Having been out of Koukatsu's sight, the blue haired genin managed to get off a Kirigakure no Jutsu. Not only that, but it was thick enough that the Leaf nin was unable to see his hand in front of his face, much less use his kekkei genkai effectively.

The Uchiha could come to only one conclusion.

He was screwed.

It wasn't until he felt a searing pain in his calves that he knew how _badly_ he was screwed. He fell to his knees, hissing furiously. He tried to rise unsuccessfully, causing waves of pain to overrun him.

A laugh sounded from all around him. "Ya know, in your position, I wouldn't be willing to surrender _at all_, despite how it would probably be better for me." The voice, though slightly distorted, was recognizable as Sokudo's offhand sarcasm.

Koukatsu scowled. This wasn't going well. He was getting utterly destroyed by someone from a no-name clan. He had to do _something_.

Working with a quick idea, the Konoha shinobi began making silent hand signs.

"You're not going to surrender either?" boomed Sokudo again, "That's too bad. Guess I'll have to continue."

Just as the Mist genin finished his not-so-sincere monologue, the raven haired nin's hands finished their seals as he yelled out, "Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu!" (Great Fireball Jutsu)

He brought his hand up to his mouth and blew out an enormous ball of flame in no particular direction. The fire was soon lost to sight in the mist, only for the area that the ball had been blown into to fizzle and suddenly become visible. The Uchiha let a smirk cross his face. That smirk quickly turned into a scowl as the mist zoomed to refill the empty space.

"Oooh! Tingly," claimed Sokudo with exaggerated feeling. "Water and chakra take a lot of energy to vaporize, ne?"

The Uchiha cursed under his breath, starting another set of seals.

"Ah, ah, ah. Jutsu can be dangerous." Koukatsu felt his wrist get grabbed, ending his signs. Instinctively, he reached out to punch the offending person, but being blind, he found only air. A second later, he felt two slashes along that arm, immobilizing it.

Then, he felt a grip on his other arm, pulling it around his back as cold steel was pressed against his neck. The young Uchiha soon felt a second presence behind him.

"That's enough." The boy recognized his father's voice.

He heard Sokudo snarl, letting go. Koukatsu fell on his front as the mist around them began to clear. "I wasn't expecting such an emotional response from an Uchiha." The raven haired genin felt, rather than saw, the glare his father gave his opponent as he waved medics over to the injured boy.

As Koukatsu was carried off by medics, among them a pink haired jounin, Sasuke turned to the crowd reluctantly.

"Winner: Kihou Sokudo!"

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Hinashin was shocked silent by the result of the match in front of her. Her teammate, her rival, had lost in a matter of a few minutes. She hadn't thought such a thing possible.

She barely noticed the pink haired medic-nin worriedly taking Koukatsu away on a stretcher. Instead, she stared at the Mist nin in horrified awe as he climbed the stairs back to the balcony.

Every time she managed to beat the Uchiha, it was because she outlasted him, and he started to run out of chakra. It was incredibly surprising for someone to defeat him in such a short time, so easily no less. Not even Rokuden could manage that! So, how could some nobody do this?

She found herself glaring as the Kiri genin approached them. She saw the female Koudoukou offering brief congratulations, earning a small smile, when Hinashin felt an elbow to her side. "Don't go being troublesome," muttered Rokuden from beside her, "You don't need to get disqualified over this."

Hinashin scowled, continuing to glare at Sokudo. He noticed just as he stopped next to his teammate and flashed her an arrogant smirk before looking at the board that determined the fighters.

The blonde grit her teeth in a valiant effort to prevent herself from going off. In the end, it was her sensei's hand on her shoulder that prevented such action.

"Koukatsu will be fine," the brown haired jounin stated supportively, "He's got his mother looking after him."

The daughter of Uzumaki Naruto gave her a rebellious look before calming down. Sakura was, after all, one of the best healers in the village. "Hai, Tenten-sensei." Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes away from the Mist nin to look at the battleboard as it began shuffling the names for the next match.

Beside her, Shan began bouncing on the balls of her feet, chanting, "Me next; me next; me next!"

Hinashin found herself hoping the same thing. She desperately needed a release for some of this frustration.

In the end, they were both disappointed.

Tsukino Hotaru vs. Koudoukou Hato.

She mentally scowled as she heard the new Beautiful Green Beasts of Konoha start very loudly praising their team member.

She only hoped the fight was distracting enough to keep her mind off Koukatsu, vaguely rooting for Hato.

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Hato let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't fighting one of his close friends. True, he was fighting someone from his own village, but that just meant he wouldn't be too disappointed no matter who won. As long as he didn't have to worry about hurting his friends… He wouldn't be able to handle that.

He was unsurprised when he was accosted by both of his green clad comrades.

"Hato-kun, you must do your best to win this match!" shouted Shan much too loudly considering her proximity.

"Show everyone the power of your youth!" joined Lee-sensei, not using the concept of subtlety in the least.

"Yosh! We shall make it a three for three in these preliminaries!"

"Yes, Shan! Show that your youthfulness cannot be defeated!"

"Lee-sensei!"

"Shan!"

"Lee-sensei!"

"Shan!"

Hato did his best to ignore the hugging duo, especially the waves that had somehow appeared in the background. He shared a quick nod with Nebin before vaulting over the rail, desperate to put some distance between himself and his insane companions. He quickly jogged to the center of the arena and waited for his opponent.

An opponent that was taking her sweet time coming down the stairs. Wait. Was she shaking?

The redhead watched in shock as the purple haired kunoichi approached nervously. He wasn't _that_ intimidating, was he? He stared at her with a mixture of concern and unease. This wasn't sitting well with him.

Vaguely, he could hear that Shan and Lee had ended their embrace and were cheering for him enthusiastically. Unfortunately, that did little to help his current feelings.

"Are you ready?" the proctor asked each of them.

The purple haired kunoichi, Hotaru, hesitated but nodded weakly.

Hato stared into her pink eyes as they rose to meet his own when he chose not to say anything. He caught a multitude of emotions in that glance: uncertainty, caution, a hint of despair and hopelessness, but, most of all, fear. She looked back at the ground, blushing in her nervousness

Now, Hato was really worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"

The girl continued staring at the ground, apparently composing herself. Once she seemed more stable, she nodded again.

The redhead sighed, resigned to this fight even though he knew it would be anything but enjoyable. "Alright." He glanced at the proctor. "I'm ready."

Without another moment, the Uchiha raised his hand. "Hajime!"

Wanting to get it over with, Hato brought his hands up into a seal. "Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu!" (Rabbit of the Zodiak Jutsu)

He felt chakra flood his legs and rushed his foe.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rei flinched as her teammate was kicked in her barely guarded chest a mere second after the match had begun. That guy was fast!

But so was Hotaru. Not as fast as her adversary was, granted, but she should've been fast enough to at least _block_ that last attack.

That led Rei to only one conclusion: Hotaru was scared of exposing her abilities to so many people, thus losing a number of possible friends.

The cat nin scowled. She couldn't see any way for her teammate to win like that. Unfortunately, she didn't know of any way to relieve her of her fears.

She flinched again as the purple haired genin was launched across the arena by a roundhouse kick to the side.

Rei glanced at Hitayio, finding his face set grimly. Obviously, he had realized the same thing she had.

"Damn it, Hotaru!" The neko nin jumped, turning to face her sensei. "Quit holding back! We're all shinobi here! No one will be afraid of you!" shouted the brown haired jounin heatedly.

The brunette gave her teacher a mildly impressed look. That was certainly one way of getting the message across. She looked back down at the fight, only to see Hotaru continue to get pummeled with kicks. She frowned.

"Kiba-sensei…I don't think she heard you."

She caught his scowl out of the corner of her eye before he started shouting again.

After another pair of particularly painful looking kicks, Rei found she couldn't watch the brutality any more. Desperate for a distraction, she turned toward the rookie team next to them, the redhead in particular, who was watching with half-closed eyes.

"Taka-san, what is that jutsu that Hato-san is using?"

The redhead blinked blearily, the medicine she had been given earlier seeming to have started to kick in, then answered without looking up. "Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu. It pumps chakra through the user's legs, making them much faster and stronger. That's why he's using so many kicks. His arms wouldn't be able to keep up enough to throw a punch. I really shouldn't be surprised he knows it, considering how much time her spends with Hishou-jiji (Uncle Hishou)…" She finished in a murmur, mostly to herself, looking at the rails in front of her through barely open eyes.

Rei could hear that, behind her, Kiba had quit ranting, apparently giving up. That assumption was proven wrong when the jounin spoke. "Why'd he stop?"

The cat nin's head jerked toward the arena below. Sure enough, Hato stood motionless five feet from his opponent, who stood weakly. Rei tilted her head in confusion.

What was going on?...

0o0o0o0o0oCliffhanger no Jutsu0o0o0o0o0o

((Yes, I know I'm evil, but I wanted to post this chapter this weekend. Ya know, when I might actually be on time for the first time in about a year. So, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger (not really…), but it was somewhat necessary for you all to have a chapter.

Also, I must apologize to Fire-on-the-Range (I think that's who reviewed with Hotaru…) because I made her look fairly weak in the chapter. That's just to build character. Don't worry. The fight will be a close one. I actually look forward to writing it.

Thank you for reading, and remember: the little blue button on your left is your friend.))


	19. Fear Forgotten

((On a quick side note, I've known for a while that a few of the people I've already included in this fic have died in the manga

((On a quick side note, I've known for a while that a few of the people I've already included in this fic have died in the manga. This, of course, is because I had already planned to use them before they died. Thus, this is now AU.

Here goes another chapter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Shunshin would be used a lot more since it seems very useful and relatively easy to use (Sasuke uses it at the beginning of the Wave Country Arc without hand seals). Unfortunately, this isn't the case, and we're forced to live through the slow movements of ninja in combat.))

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**Fear Forgotten**

0o0o0oFlashback no Jutsu0o0o0o

_A young child of no more than five with purple hair down to her shoulders ran along, laughing, her hand gripped in the man's next to her. "Come on, Tou-san! Let's go shopping!"_

_The girl's father chuckled. "Alright. Alright. Just slow down."_

_The girl only yanked harder, her pink eyes darting around her in search of a store. "But Tou-san! I wanna get there faster!"_

_The man rolled his own pink eyes, his brown hair falling behind his shoulder, knowing that she had no clue where 'there' was. "You asked for it, child," he claimed in a voice that was much too happy to fit the threat._

_The girl yelped as she was pulled into his arms and lifted above his head. A second later, his neck was between her legs as she grasped his messy hair. It took her a moment to realize that she had been given a lift._

_She gave her father the best glare a child her age could manage. "Otou-san! Don't do that!" she whined._

_The man chuckled again. "You know you liked it!"_

_The girl giggled, showing that to be true. She looked over the heads of the crowd around her excitedly. She was soon bouncing on her father's shoulders, pointing. "Can we go there!? Can we go there!?"_

_Not entirely sure where 'there' was, the man smiled. "Sure, dear."_

_The girl clapped her hands together joyfully, her now silver eyes shining._

_Suddenly, there was a scream from a few feet away. The man spun toward the sound, grasping his daughter's knees firmly to keep her from falling as more screams joined the first, now coming from every direction. His eyes widened as he saw a translucent, human-like being rise from the ground. All around the area, more translucent figures appeared, each with a human shape, many walking through solid objects, a few even walking through _people.

_Chaos erupted all around the pair._

_The girl looked around in confusion. Her father scowled, his eyes changing from pink to a silver matching that of his daughter's new color in an instant. He carefully balanced the girl on his shoulder as he brought his hands up to form a set of hand signs._

_By now, the people around them had begun fleeing the scene, a few ducking under stalls to hide._

_Therefore, many didn't notice for several seconds when the spirits disappeared at a muttered jutsu from the brown haired man. When they did, everything was deathly silent as they rose from hiding places and hesitantly opened store doors from the inside. All stared at the two figures who hadn't moved during the entire debacle, a man carrying his young daughter on his shoulder._

_The man snarled furiously, turning around. "We're going home, Hotaru."_

_The girl stared silently around, knowing better than to argue with her father when he was angry, as she was carried away, the crowd parting fearfully in front of them._

_Hotaru was never treated the same by the villagers again._

0o0o0oEnd Flashback no Jutsu0o0o0o

Hato planted another kick in Hotaru's stomach, sending her skidding a few feet back. He frowned as he rushed after her.

He didn't get it. Why wasn't she fighting back? It was obvious she could manage it. She was even rolling with all of his kicks in what seemed like automatic reactions! She _had_ to be good enough to beat him.

So, why didn't she?

It was when he was about to land another roundhouse on her shoulder that he met her eyes once more and got his answer.

Her gaze held the same fear that he had seen earlier along with a healthy dose of resignation. He stopped his kick just as it touched the girl's shoulder, watching as her body flexed in preparation to roll with the blow. Slowly, he lowered his foot and took a few steps back. Hotaru looked up at him in confusion, her body still tense.

Hato stared at her with a mild glare. "You're not fighting." He saw her bite her lip, having realized she had quite clearly been too obvious. "And yet you refuse to surrender the match…Why?" He spoke quietly, only loud enough for her, and maybe the proctor, to hear him.

The purple haired kunoichi remained silent, her eyes traveling to her teammates before dropping to the floor.

The older genin softened his glare, having noticed the path of her gaze. "Perhaps Nebin-kun's observational skills are rubbing off on me because I think I know why…" The girl's head snapped up with a shocked expression.

When she still didn't say anything, he continued. "You're too ashamed to surrender with your teammates and sensei watching." Hotaru's head dropped at that, confirming his suspicions. "But you seem unable to fight because you are scared of something. Of what, I cannot be certain." He paused again when she bit her lip, once more telling him what he needed to know.

The kunoichi looked at her adversary with worry in her eyes, obviously afraid he would tell everyone what was going on.

He had no such intentions.

Instead, he scowled at her, startling the girl. "I will not accept that!" he declared fiercely. "I will not take a win that was given to me."

Hotaru stared at him in confusion, her soft voice squeaking from between her lips. "But why?"

Hato's mouth twitched up slightly as he glanced at his sensei. "Because I was taught never to accept the easy way out. The difficulty of the hard way will only make me stronger." He turned his attention back to his opponent. "Now, are you going to fight me?"

She frowned, looking down in indecision. "But…I can't…"

The redhead intensified his gaze. "You can, and you will." He paused as he thought of a decently motivating threat. "Or else…I will surrender, forcing you to advance to the next round." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, only to receive a confused look. He sighed, explaining. "There will be an audience the size of the village there. You will _have_ to fight to your fullest or be degraded in front of the mass of people. What will you do then?"

The kunoichi paled. She couldn't do that! She wouldn't be able to fight or surrender there! One would bring isolation, the other shame. But she couldn't use her kekkei genkai either. It would terrify everyone, creating a second version of the incident 7 years before that caused the village to keep a good distance between them and her. Yet, she couldn't fight well enough to satisfy her opponent without that same bloodline. What could she do?

She gritted her teeth. She would have to fight. She had no other choice. She couldn't even give up without a thorough lecture from Kiba-sensei. She could only pray that not everyone watching shunned her after this.

She brought her hands up into a sign. Before, she had been resigned to let herself lose. Now, she was forced to fight. And she would, with all she had. That still didn't stop her fear of rejection from spiking as she whispered the name of her kekkei genkai. "Yuureijingan!" (roughly: Eyes of Ghostly Population)

She watched as a mass of translucent spirits appeared in her field of vision, her eyes morphing into a ghostly silver. She knew that at that point, she was the only one that could see the figures, but she still had to resist the urge to look around to see the reactions of those around her. It was better if she didn't know, she decided thoughtfully. The purple haired kunoichi stared at her foe with as much determination as she could muster.

"I will fight then."

Hato smirked. "Good."

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Onkyou Nami. A Sound nin going under cover as a Kiri shinobi, along with the rest of her team. Not even the Mist government knew this. They believed her entire team had betrayed Oto in favor of joining them. Even the Mizukage suspected nothing as far as she knew.

And for good reason.

The group _had_ given them information on some of Sound's secrets. Bits about Oto's interrogation processes, folders on failed cloning attempts, even research on new, powerful jutsu. Yet, they were insubstantial compared to some of the Otokage's new projects.

But Kiri didn't know that. For all they knew, the info had been vitally important.

Thus, they had been allowed to enter their ninja corps. They had even allowed them to stay on the same team, though they had to begin as lowly genin, with only one of them made chuunin as their 'instructor'.

Little did they know that this was exactly what the team wanted.

It let them take part in this very chuunin exam, where they would both observe the potential subjects the Otokage was thinking of recruiting and set their plan into motion.

Nami had little doubt that her teammate, Hason, was already doing the latter. And they had already observed the subjects, which she continued to do now, though she saw little point now. None of them had seemed worthwhile to her.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop the kunoichi from being bored. The plan would take time to set up, so she had to take part in this amazingly slow preliminary round. Plus, Hason had already gathered information on the only combatant below that mattered, so it was pointless to watch this fight.

Granted, they were lucky the Mist decided to change their isolated ways only a short time ago. With the change in Mizukage a few years back, things in the country had taken a drastic turn, mostly for the better. No one knows what happened to the old kage, but the new one quickly began marketing the 'new' Mist to get themselves more customers.

Of course, the only part of this that mattered to them was the fact that the chuunin exams gave them an excellent chance to advertise.

Nami gazed down at the pair in the arena, confident that none of it mattered except her and the ninja at her side advancing. Of course, that would be easy. Nothing she had seen so far had impressed her.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. She _had_ been impressed by the proctor's speed in clearing away the greenery; it was even greater than hers and, no doubt, not even his fastest.

Her eyes narrowed on the Uchiha. She would have to change that as soon as she was given the chance. It wouldn't do for her to be slower than anyone, much less _him_.

She definitely had some training to do. And Hason would make the perfect sparring partner with his above average speed. Just as soon as he recovered from the beating they had given the boy in order to give him an excuse to drop out, at Hason's recommendation no less.

"Hm. This could be interesting."

Nami turned toward her 'sensei' with a surprised look. "You're not actually _watching_ this, are you?"

The man shrugged. "Better than being bored…Or ogling at the enemy."

The kunoichi gave him a disgusted glare before turning back to the fight that had just resumed below. She quickly saw the renewed ferocity in both combatants.

Perhaps, there was a bit of truth in that statement. She blushed. Well, at least the first part of it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hotaru quickly started a set of hand seals, staring at her opponent's satisfied smirk. He patiently waited while she used her jutsu, obviously wanting to see at least _one_ of her techniques. The purple haired kunoichi glanced around, looking for a spirit she could take advantage of, trying her best to ignore the twinge of fear in the back of her mind.

She was pleased to find a ghost wearing what seemed like a hitai-ate. That meant it probably had some ability she could use. She finished her seals looking directly at the translucent figure.

"Seireigyo no Jutsu" (Spirit Control Jutsu)

A burst of knowledge erupted in her mind. No memories, no wisdom, not even any jutsu. Just information on the form's former taijutsu, enough to allow her to use the techniques as long as she remained connected to the figure. The knowledge wouldn't last any longer than that.

She looked back at Hato to find his eyes wide. This brought back her fear of being rejected by all her pears, and she almost canceled the jutsu. Then, she saw his apparent awe transform into a wide grin, which only served to confuse her.

"Now, _that's_ more like it."

He brought his hands up, reactivating his Rabbit jutsu. With a burst of speed, he was in her face, throwing a kick at her side.

Her own agility, combined with the spirit ninja's knowledge, allowed her to duck, deflect the blow over her head, and strike the older Konoha nin solidly in the shoulder with a roundhouse. Her foe flew back a short distance before skidding on the ground. Seeing her connected ghost behind him, she took the opportunity to casually jump back, the semi-see-through figure copying her actions to the letter, even the direction. As she landed, she spun around, throwing a temporarily blind uppercut at her adversary just as he stopped.

She felt the jolt in her arm indicating a direct hit and turned back around, finding Hato flying through the air toward her. Her fears completely forgotten in her adrenaline, she leapt into the air to meet his flimsy form, rotating to land a powerful kick on her opponent's front, sending him once more toward the spirit and the ground.

At that moment, Hotaru was glad for her luck in finding a brawler ninja spirit. It made using combos like this so much easier.

She watched the body land and directed her fall so that her new 'companion' would land in the center of her adversary's stomach. It did so with a sickening crunch, cracking the arena underneath.

She stepped to the side, forcing the ghost to step off of Hato, breathing heavily as the proctor came forward to check on the redhead. The kunoichi released her jutsu, silently thanking the spirit for its contribution. With the adrenaline wearing off, she fell to her knees, exhausted and, no doubt, bruised from the encounter.

She stared blankly as medics approached the prone form. Now that she wasn't in the thrill of battle, the terror of what she had done finally struck her. She had used her powers. In front of a rather large audience. _"Oh no…"_

She dropped her head to her knees, shaking violently. She felt tears forming in her eyes. She had shown them her ghosts. They'd all be terrified of her now. She'd be shunned again.

She'd be left alone again.

All alone.

"Hotaru-san!"

She didn't lift her head. It had to be someone new ready to put her down. Who else could it be?

But the voice didn't sound angry or derogatory. It didn't even sound anxious or scared. It seemed more…appraising.

"Hotaru-san!"

This time, she looked up, tears dripping from her eyes. She saw three bleary forms next to another that lay on the ground. One, which looked vaguely like a medic, seemed to be waving her over. "Hato-san wishes to speak to you before he is taken away."

She stared as her mind comprehended what had been said. He still wanted to talk to her? Even after she had used her necrotic powers to defeat him? But why? He should be horrified of her!

"Come on, Hotaru-san! We can't leave him here all day."

The medic's voice somehow made the purple haired kunoichi stand up and start walking, tears still staining her cheeks. Apparently, he wasn't afraid at all, even in his weakened state. Confused and slightly scared, she approached the crippled form, the medic that had spoken earlier stepping out of the way so she could see him.

She looked down at his face, blurred eyes failing to register any of the details. However, they did catch the splotch of red that accompanied his pale skin: blood. New tears flooded her eyes, causing them to overflow. Now everyone would be _really_ scared of her. What heartless person used ghosts to cause this much damage to a comrade? She knew everyone would think she was one of those people.

She paused when she heard a cough from below her. "Why are you…crying?" It seemed like he was having some difficulty breathing.

The water in her eyes returned once more with renewed vigor. _She_ had done this. _She_ had forced this genin to the brink of death. _She_ was a monster.

"Why are you…so scared?" the boy asked, attempting to create a comforting tone through his gasps for breath.

Hotaru couldn't help the tears that fell onto his light brown clothes. Her voice was choked as she told her fears to the one person she didn't truly know that wanted to hear them. "You'll all think I'm a monster…"

Even the medics were silent as the two stared at each other for a long moment. Then, abruptly, Hato tried to laugh, only to end up coughing up more blood. The kunoichi blinked in confusion, eyes clearing slightly.

"If you're…a monster…all shinobi…are monsters."

His fragmented sentence gave her an odd comfort. He saw her as what she wanted to be seen as: a shinobi. He didn't see the monster or the wicked necromancer that everyone else seemed to see. Slowly, she brought herself down to her knees beside him, speaking in no more than a whisper.

"But…what about what I did?"

Hato snorted, bringing about another round of coughing. As he regained control, he responded. "You won…as any…shinobi…should….And…what kind…of monster…would shed…tears…for its…victims?"

Hotaru's eyes grew wide in shock, suddenly dryer than before. She watched his bloodied lips smile.

"Actually…I'd like…to spar…again…sometime.…You provide…a unique…challenge."

The purple haired kunoichi stared at him, her mind gradually registering his words. He trusted her enough to fight her again? He wasn't scared she would kill him? He even wanted to be her….

"Friend?" she mumbled, mostly to herself, though all four around her heard.

She watched in astonishment as the redhead smiled again. "Hai."

The tears came back again, only this time they were of joy rather than fear. She let them fall freely onto her new friend's clothes, her body shaking. "Th-thank you."

The boy smiled again. She closed her eyes as he nodded to someone beside her.

"Hotaru…chan?" Her vision shot back to him at the sound of his voice. "A favor?" She nodded silently, determined to keep her new friend. He smiled again. "Look around."

"Winner: Tsukino Hotaru!"

She looked up in shock as she heard scattered applause. Knowing that both combatants were alright seemed to have stirred a positive reaction from the crowd. Most of it came from the eight Konoha rookies.

It stunned the purple haired kunoichi to see people accepting her, even after such a display. They weren't scared of her at all. In fact, they treated her as if she had just won their respect.

She felt tears in her eyes for the umpteenth time that day as she glanced back at the genin that had caused all of this. He lay in the stretcher, giving a thumbs up to the crowd, showing that he was alright. Just when he was being carted off to the infirmary, Hotaru murmured a "Thank you," eliciting yet another smile from the injured boy's lips.

The kunoichi turned back to the crowd with happiness showing brightly on her face. She wasn't being shunned. She wasn't left alone. She was accepted. At that point, nothing else mattered to her. Smiling, she walked back toward the balcony to be greeted by her friends.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hato let his arm drop limply at his side. He was glad the medics had been kind enough to heal his worst injuries and then let him talk to Hotaru. He thought he had done rather well with her. Certainly, she wouldn't be so terrified the next time she went out to battle.

Granted, that still didn't help his crumpled body. Only a complex medical ninjutsu or a week or more in bandages would do that. He would've sighed had it not hurt to do so.

He noticed his sensei appear next to him, astounded once again by the man's pure _speed_. Lee quickly approached the medic.

"How bad is he?"

"I'm fine…sensei," interrupted the redhead quickly before the man could get too worried. "It's only…a broken…rib and…punctured…lung."

The jounin frowned. "Your definition of fine needs work, Hato-kun."

The genin almost laughed but caught himself before he ended up coughing again. "Nothing…the medics…can't take…care of."

Lee gave him a harsh stare before letting his gaze soften. "You let her get inside your guard."

The redhead blushed, looking to the side. "…Maybe…"

"Didn't expect such a strong combo?" the jounin asked with a slight smile. Hato shook his head. "Learn your lesson?"

The boy did his best to shrug, only to flinch when it caused his chest to hurt. The jounin turned toward the healer.

"He'll really be alright?" The worry in his voice was quite evident. The medic-nin nodded, giving no more answer. Lee looked back at his student, giving a bright grin. "May your youthfulness return twice as strong after this incapacitating injury!" Cue Nice-Guy Pose.

Slightly creeped out, the medic quickly carted Hato off toward the infirmary, wanting no more part in the man's insane ramblings. The genin didn't complain; he was very much glad for a break from the man.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Nara Rokudenashi was not often taken by surprise. He could usually predict a person's moves with reasonable accuracy even after spending only a small amount of time watching them. It was a trait he had inherited from his father.

Thus, he was unusually stunned when the rookie kunoichi took out Hato, a genin his own age whose strength he knew well and who he even called a friend, in but a single string of attacks.

The Nara almost groaned. These exams were turning out to require much more effort than he wanted to put into them. What he had seen so far was not comforting. He'd actually have to _try_ if he wanted a chance to make chuunin.

He watched the girl, Hotaru, climb the stairs to be greeted by her teammates and a few other rookies enthusiastically. He stared at the female blonde among them, Taru, for a minute before catching himself and looking away. It wouldn't do to get distracted at this point. He could very well end up fighting her.

He glanced at his companion, Hinashin. She was also staring at the younger genin, hands gripped tightly on the bars. Apparently, she was either also anxious for her fight or was more fond of Hato than either of them realized. Somewhat surprising, considering the relatively little amount of time they get to spend together and the redhead's mild reclusiveness.

He quickly scanned the rest of the crowd.

He caught traces of unease among his parents, the Hokage, and Uzumaki Naruto, all of whom stood together in a small group. He could only guess at the reasons behind this but decided it wasn't his business. The Godaime would surely tell them all if it was important.

The Suna team seemed to be a bit cocky to him, but that wasn't surprising. He knew all three of the members as well as the sensei, and all of them thought highly of themselves. Except maybe Souran. It was hard to tell with that boy. He was mute, so it was impossible to read anything in his voice, and the war paint he wore distorted many of the faces he made. Rokuden was silently glad the puppet user had already fought. He doubted he could have kept up with the Sand nin. His teammates on the other hand…

He moved on before he could let himself get overconfident. As he looked at his fellow Leaf genin, the ones his own age, he noted that their sensei had just returned from the arena below. It was rather obvious when both team members relaxed their previously tense stances, even Nebin's, who was normally very reserved with his emotions. The Nara let out a sigh when Shan returned to her vigorous cheering for her fight to be next with the a little less enthusiasm, no doubt still worried about her companion.

Rokuden looked toward the Cloud and Mist teams that separated the older and younger genin. Each one looked mildly more vulnerable with one shinobi missing. Even the youngest looking brown haired boy looked less than happy now, despite having won. They all seemed a little withdrawn, perhaps even dangerous.

He shook his head. No use getting intimidated either. Analysis was only worth the effort when he could use it effectively. If he was caught off guard or scared half out of his wits, it would be useless.

The raven haired genin glanced over the rookies once again, just to be sure he hadn't missed anything. To his slight surprise, he had. Hato's cousin, Taka he believed her name was, had somehow managed to fall asleep leaning on the rail. There was a medic behind her, giving her a quick once over with his medical ninjutsu. Then, the healer turned toward the girl's sensei and asked a quick question. It was nearly impossible to tell what the man's answer was over the ruckus behind him, so the Nara didn't even try.

Instead, he went on to view the real objects of his chagrin, the oldest team there, the Kiri team across from them. There were only two competing on the team, but he had little doubt that the third, the sensei, was plotting something. He realized then that perhaps _that_ was what was bothering his father and the rest of the important adults.

With that conclusion, he decided to leave that man to the more trained jounin and kage and turned toward the two team members. The girl was glaring at nothing in particular, apparently bored. The boy had a hand on the hilt of the blade on his waist, watching the group of excited rookies with some curiosity.

Somehow, both sights disconcerted the Nara.

From their subtle actions and movements, Rokuden could just tell that they were far above the level of genin. In fact, they each moved much like the current proctor did. The current proctor was Uchiha Sasuke…

The Uchiha was known to be confident to the point of recklessness. Yet, his skills were renowned in the Leaf village, so that confidence was well founded. He made that obvious in every motion he made.

The fact that these two moved in similar ways was not comforting. The genin could only take a little consolation in the fact that the sensei, who was supposed to be the strongest among them, seemed nothing like the Uchiha.

Rokuden just hoped he wouldn't have to fight one of them.

With that thought, he looked up at the battle board, silently praying he wouldn't have to fight yet.

Jiheki no Suna vs. Hyuuga Hinashin

Rokuden bristled. Of all the people his teammate could fight, it had to be someone she got along with. That would make things rather difficult.

Or so he thought.

When he heard his companion's "Yatta!" signaling that she had seen the screen, he started to doubt that initial assumption. He turned to see the blond rushing over to the Sand shinobi. The Nara blinked as she grabbed Jiheki's arm and yanked him over the edge of the balcony, over the railing.

"Our turn! Our turn!"

It said something of the Suna nin that he managed to land on his feet, even with the grip Hinashin had on his upper arm. Unfortunately, he didn't stay there long as he was dragged to the center of the arena in a matter of moments.

Rokuden shook his head. Perhaps, Hinashin was more anxious for her fight than he gave her credit for. Nevertheless, he still doubted she would go all out against someone she considered a friend.

After all, she had the world renowned Uzumaki loyalty gene in her veins.

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Jiheki vaulted to his feet from where he had been dumped by an ever enthusiastic Hinashin. The boy slowly turned around to look at the girl, who was now bouncing on the balls of her feet, with a raised eyebrow.

"You sure are raring to go," he commented lightly.

She grinned at him. "I've been itching to fight since these prelims started."

"I'm sure you also want to see Koukatsu-kun as soon as you can, too." He chuckled when she shifted slightly, nodding. "Well, I _did_ want to see which of us was stronger. Though I would prefer if we applied a few additional rules to prevent serious injury."

The blond girl scowled at him. "Screw that! If you can't take a little damage, you shouldn't be here!"

Jiheki rolled his eyes, noting the audience's, with the exception of the kunoichi's father, surprise. "Fine. Whatever. But at least no lethal jutsu, agreed?"

"Works for me."

With a slight grin, the Suna nin dropped into a ready stance. "This is going to be fun," he murmured to himself. Then, he looked at the proctor. "I believe we are both ready."

At Hinashin's agreeing nod, the Uchiha stepped forward, raising his arm. "Hajime!"

The two combatants went into motion simultaneously. Jiheki uncorked the gourd on his back as Hinashin rushed forward with a battle cry. The sand from the gourd quickly gathered around the boy's feet.

A few hand seals later, that sand came up in front of him as a shield just as his opponent lashed out with a punch. Believing she would attempt to go around his shield, he started another set of seals to counter such action.

He was, thus, stunned when the sand in front of him started to crumble from the middle outward. It took him a mere moment to realize that she was using the Jyuuken style on his sand. His eyes widened.

Not good.

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Temari stared down at the fight below. Jiheki's metal sand was already being ruthlessly blown apart by his enemy. She sighed. The Jyuuken was simply one of the counters to such a defense. Had his ability not required the sand be infused with his chakra in order for his magnetism to control it, he might have stood a chance using his typical defend until the foe is exhausted strategy.

This time, he would have to go on the offensive or go down in a matter of minutes.

The Sand jounin only hoped the boy realized that.

As it was, she could only watch as the genin fought to keep control over his sand.

Temari almost wished it were one of her other students down there. Either one would have a better chance of beating Hinashin than Jiheki. Souran would simply out-think and outmaneuver her, while Ichijin could keep her from even getting close enough to _use_ Jyuuken.

It was at that moment that the sand user decided to go on the offensive with a rushing wave of sand. This forced his opponent to jump backward, into a series of twists and flips.

The Suna sensei smiled at this. Perhaps he stood a chance after all. It was too bad he only had about half of his sand left though. It left him without a defense when he went on the attack. If his foe realized this and managed to get between the sand and him, he would be in trouble.

It was all Temari could do to hold out hope that he could pull out a win from this. After all, they were dealing with the child of Konoha's number one most surprising ninja.

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Hinashin grinned as she dodged the continued assault of sand. She knew she'd enjoy this fight. Somehow, she could tell they would be trading blow for blow. She had already attacked Jiheki some. Now, he was attacking her.

All she had to do was find a way to get around his sand and she could return the favor.

With a quick idea, she back-flipped out of the way of the rushing sand, vaulting herself up the nearby wall, using chakra to stick to it. The moment she was over the sand, she pushed off, leaping over the attack, toward her opponent.

She caught his look of surprise when she started charging him. Then, he started a set of hand seals. This only encouraged the blonde to pick up her pace. Halfway there, the Sand nin finished his jutsu.

"Konesuna no Jutsu!" (Sand Drawing Jutsu)

Hinashin heard a sudden crash, signifying an increase in the sand's speed in heading back towards its master. She cursed under her breath. If only she had decided to master the Shunshin; the burst of speed would certainly be helpful here. Instead, all she could do was redouble her efforts once more.

It soon became clear that she would make it to her opponent before the sand would reach her. She grinned, rearing back a fist. With a roar, she lunged forward, sending a powerhouse of a punch straight at her foe's face.

She was stunned into immobility when the boy simply sidestepped, completely dodging the attack.

A moment later, the sand came crashing into her, knocking her a good distance away while it set about defending its wielder once more.

The blonde skidded to a halt, cursing.

Her opponent grinned at her, his sand once more rushing around his feet. "I have _some_ taijutsu skill, Hinashin-chan. You won't hit me with such an obvious attack."

The kunoichi raised an eyebrow. "Alright then…Let's see how you like _this_." She brought her hands up into a single hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Jutsu)

With a burst of smoke, two more Hinashins joined the first. She saw Jiheki curse when the pair of clones circled him, creating a three point assault. Moments later, all three charged with a vicious roar, pulling out kunai.

With a snarl, the Suna nin started a set of hands signs. He finished just as each one reached him, lashing out with their weapons. "Satetsu Joushou no Jutsu!" (Rising Metal Sand Jutsu)

In a rush, almost all of the sand at his feet skyrocketed, taking all three blondes with them. Then, abruptly, halfway to the ceiling the sand stopped, falling back towards its master.

As she reached the peak of her flight, the Hyuuga stared down at the Suna nin, who had already started another set of seals, even with two gashes on the back of his shoulders where the kunoichi's clones had managed to get him slightly. Scowling, she quickly grabbed a slip of paper from her belt pouch and tied it around the kunai in her hand.

The dark haired genin finished his hand signs confidently. "Kaisho Satetsu no Jutsu!" (Metal Sand Club Jutsu)

Almost immediately, the sand at his feet rose and gathered above his head. In just a few moments, it had created a giant club suspended above the boy's head.

And Hinashin's fall would bring her directly in the swinging path of the weapon.

She grit her teeth. She had no way to change her trajectory in mid-air; the clones were too far away and she didn't have the chakra to waste on more. She would have to take the hit.

But that didn't mean she would be the only one getting hit.

She waited until mere seconds before she was in the path of the enormous club to throw her paper wrapped kunai right at Jiheki's feet. This way she ensured that both of them would take a blow. She only had to rely on the Uzumaki's famous never-ending stamina.

Without even watching to see if the object landed where she had aimed, she brought her hands in front of her face to brace for the inevitable impact. With a tremendous 'thud', she was sent careening into a nearby wall, her clones disappearing in puffs of smoke.

At that same moment, the Sand nin was watching the sutra wrapped kunai with wide eyes. Instinctively, he brought up what little remained of his sand for a feeble defense, taking a step backward. The explosion that followed sent him flying into the wall opposite his foe.

Both groaned as they fell with the rubble around them to the ground face-first. They each lay there for a second, too stunned to move, the smoke from the paper bomb slowly clearing as the Suna shinobi's sand returned to him.

Then, Hinashin pushed herself to her feet with a forced grin. "How do ya like that?"

Jiheki rolled himself over, groaning. "Damn it, Hinashin, do you have to be so reckless?"

The girl laughed. "Who said I was being reckless? I'm perfectly fine." The bruises forming on her arms proved otherwise.

The Suna nin pushed himself to his feet, some of his charred clothes falling off. "I guess I should have expected something like that." He carefully tested all of his body parts, thankful his opponent was kind enough to let him. Eventually, he looked back at her with a sigh.

"Well, looks like we get to keep going at it."

Hinashin smirked. "Hai. I promise this won't last long," she declared, pulling out another sutra tagged kunai.

The sand shinobi eyed it warily. "As do I." It would have to be a short battle. Either he would take her out quickly or the explosions would get through his defenses. He smiled slightly. No matter which it was, this battle had turned become very exciting.


	20. Untouched Loser

((My BETA made the comment after I posted the last chapter that 'recently my works have seemed a little rushed'

((My BETA made the comment after I posted the last chapter that 'recently my works have seemed a little rushed'. I looked back and realized that, at least at the very end of the last chapter, he was right. Thus, I took his recommendation to 'take a short break from writing', thus making this chapter as late as it is. Hopefully, my writing will be back to normal for this chapter…

**Disclaimer:** sigh Still don't own Naruto…Guess I'll never have the money for that new car…))

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**Untouched Loser**

Kakashi furrowed his gradually aging brow. The Naruto clone standing next to him looked around anxiously, ready to resume the chase. The elder jounin looked down at the pug in front of him.

"Well, Pakkun?"

The small dog glanced back at him. "He was definitely here a short while ago. Seems like he spent a lot of time here."

"But that's impossible! We were here the whole time! No one's come through at all!" declared a guard next to the three. Neither Kakashi nor Naruto dignified that with a response as they took off after a still tracking Pakkun.

"Idiot!" yelled his companion, who still stood by the entrance they were supposed to be guarding. "You should know by now that nothing is impossible! We're ninja for Kami's sake!" the first guard only frowned.

A few corridors down, the Naruto clone snarled. "Can't we go any faster? He'll get away at this rate."

Kakashi frowned at that. He had been one of the first ones Naruto had notified when his first clone was dispelled. The older jounin quickly agreed to help, summoning Pakkun. Along the way, they had told a number of ANBU to keep an eye out for a teenage Mist nin.

Unfortunately, the Kiri nin seemed to be able to somehow disperse his scent as Pakkun was having trouble tracking him, making progress slow. The dog had already told the pair as much, but that didn't stop the anxiousness from their minds.

The pug glanced back at the Naruto clone in annoyance. "We caught up some because of the length of the Mist nin's last stop. As long as I don't lose the trail, should he stop again, we'll catch him."

Kakashi caught Naruto's nod out of the corner of his eye. The white haired jounin almost sighed. If this wasn't such a serious matter, he would be reading his beloved Icha Icha right now…

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Hinashin, being a teenage girl, had to admit: Jiheki looked attractive with half his clothes burned off. The blackened skin took little away from his strong musculature. It was almost enough for her to ask him out on a date.

Of course, she knew there was more to people than their looks. Her mother and father had taught her that. (Seriously, who could be attracted to that obnoxious orange? It was ridiculous!)

Besides, he was her opponent.

And she'd be damned if she lost because of her developing hormones.

Thus, she started forward with a battle cry, activating her Byakugan with a few quick hands seals.

It wasn't long before Jiheki sent his sand at her. She smirked. Now, she could disperse his only defense.

Just before it reached her, she leapt into the air. The sand quickly changed course so that it would be where she would land. With a grin, the Hyuuga began spinning mid-air.

She landed in the middle of the sand as it rose to encase her. With one simple push of her feet, she initiated one of her clan's trademark moves.

"Kaiten!" (Rotation)

In a flash, the metallic sand was thrown everywhere. A second later, Hinashin was out of her spin and charging her opponent, explosive tagged kunai in hand, once more.

Five quick steps and she was reaching out to slash at the Sand nin with her kunai. He dodged to the side, directly into the path of a Jyuuken strike to his leg. He grunted as the limb gave out underneath him.

Hinashin launched herself backward, throwing the explosive tagged kunai just short of Jiheki. The blast sent the Suna genin flying back into the arena wall, causing a small indent. A second later, he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The Hyuuga didn't realize until she landed on the ground that she might have gone too far.

"Shit."

She rushed forward to join the small group of medic nin that went to aid the foreign shinobi as Uchiha Sasuke called the match.

"Winner: Hyuuga Hinashin!"

The Leaf genin watched anxiously as one of the medics took the boy's pulse.

"Is he going to be alright?"

She was surprised when the healer that had been shining a light into Jiheki's forced open eyes responded.

"He'll be fine. Doesn't even seem to have a concussion. The genius kept just enough sand to cushion the worst part of the blow."

He nodded toward the wall, indicating what he meant. The kunoichi turned and, to her surprise, saw sand falling from the indent in the wall slowly, taking on the vague shape of the gourd that had formerly been on the boy's back. She let out a deep sigh of relief.

She jumped slightly when Temari appeared next to her. "Good match," said the jounin emotionlessly, not even looking at the girl next to her.

Hinashin glanced at her. "Hai. Gomen."

The blond Sand sensei waved it off, as if knowing that Jiheki would be fine, before following after the medics as they carried the boy out on a stretcher.

The Hyuuga turned back to look at her teammates. When she saw Rokuden's slight smile and Tenten-sensei's smirk, she couldn't help but grin. She started back toward the balcony, rolling her eyes when her father began cheering…loudly.

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Tounyo was in a relatively good mood. His team had passed the second test without a problem, even getting medical aid for the Stone team they had severely crippled in the process. They had had a full three days of rest, giving them a distinct advantage over the other teams, most of which had finished in the last two days; only the older Leaf and Sand teams had managed to beat the there. He had even been able to watch his teammate take nearly half of his fellow poker player's weapons. Furthermore, none of the team members had fought yet.

This, of course, only made Kizui even more anxious.

But it helped relax the medic nin. He was able to watch the other teams and analyze their fighting styles, finding flaws consistently that he planned to take advantage of should he ever fight them. And there were _always_ flaws, even in the older genin. The sheer number of impurities he found was slowly boosting his confidence.

Locating the weaknesses in battle would be a different story though. It was much harder to focus on the opponent when you had to pay attention to yourself too. You couldn't simply let yourself get maimed, now could you?

He watched with a slight smile as the latest winner joined them once more on the balcony. That had been an…interesting fight. It had been so…spontaneous. A big difference from the usual styles he analyzed.

He offered the blonde a slight nod as she went by, not really surprised when he received a smirk in response.

He looked back at the battleboard as the names started blurring across it, noting with amusement that Kizui was in a prayer position, muttering, "Please, let me be next. Please, let me be next."

The male blonde jumped slightly when Taru stepped up beside him. "Confident, isn't she?" He followed her gaze to find the previous match's winner and snorted.

"Hai, but it's not entirely unfounded."

He caught the small smile that flitted across his teammate's face. "Her father seems to agree."

Tounyo looked down at Uzumaki Naruto to find him proclaimed rather loudly how 'undefeatable' his daughter was. He couldn't help but laugh. The man sounded so much like an amazed child and yet a proud father at the same time.

It was Kizui's groan of disappointment that brought his attention back to the board.

Emerarudo Tounyo vs. Teisuu Uppun.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, wondering who his opponent was. Catching motion in the corner of his vision, he turned to find the only remaining Cloud nin vaulting over the railing.

Tounyo frowned. _"This might not be good,"_ he thought blankly. _"If he's anything like his teammate, I'll have to watch out for be cautious and watch for set-ups…"_

"Kick his ass, Tounyo-chan!"

The genin didn't even have to turn to know that it was Kizui that had said that. "Hai. Hai." The distraction in his voice must have been obvious because Konohamaru-sensei gave some rare words of encouragement.

"You can win this, Tounyo-kun. I know you can."

The male blonde let a small smile come to his face. "Arigato, sensei."

"Have fun."

He glanced sideways at the smirking Taru. He merely rolled his eyes at her antics. Taking his time, he walked down the steps to the arena below, hoping to calm himself down before he got there.

From the icy glare that his foe had fixed him with by the time he was across from the Kumo nin, he could tell his pace wasn't well liked. This caused him to smirk. Perhaps, he could rile his opponent up a little before they got started.

"So tell me," he started as casually as he could manage, the nerves of having an audience to watch his fight getting to him a bit. "How do you stack up to your plant-using teammate up there?" He nodded towards Sutamina briefly.

The Kumo nin, Uppun, lifted his head so that he was talking down his nose to Tounyo. "He may be the strongest on the team, but I'm _more_ than enough to take on you, shrimp."

The blond genin raised an eyebrow. He should know better than to estimate an opponent's strength based on looks. His technique allowed for even his lanky body to dish out damage, as evidenced by the fight against the Stone team.

Of course, he wanted to get a rise out of the Cloud genin, so he didn't voice any of these thoughts. Instead, he took on a mildly mocking tone. "Oh? You're not as tough as your companion? Then, this should be easy."

Uppun snarled, spreading into an offensive stance. "You'll regret making that assumption."

"Hajime!" Sasuke lowered his arm before blood could fly.

Tounyo dropped into his typical stance, fist near stomach, arm in front of him, and legs spread. He was surprised when his angry opponent didn't act immediately. In fact, he merely stood still, glaring at the Leaf shinobi. He tilted his head to the side in slight confusion.

That was when he heard the soft scuffle of feet on the floor, just as his foe's face morphed into a smirk.

"_Genjutsu!"_

He leapt to the side, away from the scuffle noise. Unfortunately, as soon as his feet left the ground, a hand gripped his wrist and jerked him to a sudden stop, almost making him fall on his face. He looked back to find his enemy with a strong grip on his arm, grinning like a maniac.

"I've got you now!"

Tounyo let a half-smirk settle on his features before yanking on his entrapped hand. His foe kept his grasp strong and even seemed to channel a little chakra into his legs in order to remain stationary. With a disgusting pop, the Konoha genin's arm jerked out of its socket.

Then, in a movement that would have been impossible for anyone without double joints or an out-of-socket arm, he spun backwards, bringing his body closer to his opponent, and brought his good hand around in a strong axe punch.

With a sickening crunch, Uppun's wrist broke under the strike. The boy let out a cry of pain, stumbling back and holding his injured wrist to his chest with his good hand.

The blond Leaf nin quickly put his arm back in socket with a twist of his shoulder, wincing as he did so, before staring appraisingly at his foe. His gaze was met with a glare of pure and utter hatred.

"I must say, you surprised me," declared Tounyo conversationally.

"You're going to pay for that, you little son of a bitch!"

The male blonde rolled his eyes. "Now that I've seen how you fight, I doubt it. You're injured, no less."

The black haired Kumo nin dropped into a more defensive position. "I will not lose to a damn Leaf brat!"

Sighing, Tounyo fell casually into his own stance. "You're hardly older than I am," he murmured quietly, then louder. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

He charged forward, going on the offensive.

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Hitayio was a lot calmer now than he had been earlier. The Kiri nin that had defeated them royally had left. Then, he had been given a few hours for his nervousness to simmer down. Thus, he was much closer to his usual rambunctious, curious self than he had been all day.

It was because of this that he was actually paying attention to the fight below him rather than staring awkwardly at the older Mist team.

His eyes widened as he saw his fellow Leaf nin pop his own shoulder out of socket. "What the hell?"

They widened even farther when he saw the boy spin around with a punch that barely looked strong enough to make the Kumo nin let go but actually ended up breaking the raven haired genin's wrist. "What the hell was that?!"

He hadn't actually expected much of an answer. So, when Tounyo's sensei spoke, he jumped slightly.

"To answer your first question, Tounyo-kun is a medic-nin in training, meaning he has studied the anatomy of the human body. This results in him knowing how to 'injure' himself in a way that is easily fixable if required."

"Your second question is a bit more complicated…" The jounin paused, staring down at the two that were talking briefly. "Tounyo-kun has a unique style of taijutsu that his mother taught him. It's similar to, but different from, Tsunade-sama's style. They both use chakra to power up their attacks. But whereas Tsunade can use only her finger to cause devastating effects, Tounyo must use his whole body."

Hitayio stared at him, curious about his fellow Leaf nin. He also noticed that quite a few others were paying attention.

"You see, Tsunade releases an outward burst of chakra at the point of impact, allowing her to use whatever she wants to cause damage. Tounyo, however, uses his chakra _within_ his body."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" inquired the redheaded Hitayio.

"Well, it means that when Tounyo goes in for a punch, he pumps chakra through his muscles, giving them a boost in performance based on how much chakra is used. At this point, he has to use _a lot_ of chakra because his control isn't good enough to limit how much he uses. This means that every one of his punches is very powerful, but also very draining."

"He also has to put his _entire body_ behind each punch to get the full effect of the technique. That's why he often sets up a good, wide base to initiate his attack, so that every possible muscle, boosted by his chakra, is used."

"It is because of this that Tounyo usually waits, analyzing his opponent's fighting style, before striking, more often than not being absolutely _sure_ that his hit will land. Otherwise, he doesn't have the chakra capacity for a long fight. As he masters the style, that'll probably change, but, for now, he's severely limited in the amount of offense he can dish out."

"Hey, sensei," began the white haired genin, Kizui, having realized his teacher was done explaining. "Why's Tou-chan being so much more aggressive than usual?"

Hitayio looked back at the battle below curiously to see that his fellow Leaf nin throwing a cautious punch about every ten seconds, only for the Cloud genin to dodge relatively easily, and slowly circling his foe. The redhead tilted his head slightly in confusion. If he only had so many punches before he was exhausted, why was he wasting them when it was clear his enemy would avoid it?

He was slightly startled when the boy's sensei chuckled. "Oh, he's not. There is no chakra in those punches. He's just realized that, with this enemy, the best defense is indeed an offense. He's keeping the pressure on little Uppun so that the boy can't use that genjutsu he cast at the beginning of the match. Yet, he also realizes that he can't get caught, so he's being cautious about it. He's effectively turned the match into a balance of attack and defense on both sides."

Hitayio looked at the Konoha shinobi below him appraisingly. He had always been good at the class work, but weak when it came to taijutsu. Now, he was proving that he had altered that greatly. Gone was the wimp that could hardly take on anyone in the class. The redhead found himself having a little more respect for the blonde.

That didn't stop him from laughing at the boy's teammates as they continued their odd interaction.

"Since when were you so observant, Konohamaru-sensei?" the kunoichi asked.

The jounin turned on her indignantly. "I can be _very_ observant when I want to be, thank you very much."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

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Uppun was very proud of being a shinobi of Kumogakure. He was even more proud of the village, itself. He loved constantly cloudy skies, the likable people, the powerful ninja, even the stern, but kind, Raikage. Almost everything about the village, he loved.

That was one of the reasons he hated all other hidden villages.

The other was because his father had been murdered by those enemy ninja. The body had had hints to several foreign villages, so it was never concluded as to which shinobi village had killed him.

That was the primary reason he despised every other hidden village.

After all, if you don't know who to hate, why not hate everyone that has the possibility of being involved? It made sense to him. Why shouldn't it to everyone else.

But Arechi-sensei seemed to be the only one that did.

Both of his teammates saw it as pointless. They were both too positive. Too naïve.

He knew how the world really worked. Everyone was an enemy until they had earned your trust.

Kumogakure, as a whole, had earned his trust.

No other village could claim that.

That was why he was disgusted by them all, despised them all. Down to every little citizen, every little genin, every tiny child. His want for revenge was so high that he would take it out on every single one of them.

And yet, at his current power level, he wasn't even managing to take it out on the one measly rookie in front of him.

He scowled, side-stepping another strike, his black ponytail swaying behind him. His right arm was crippled at the wrist, completely useless to him without the ability to grab hold of his opponent.

The Leaf nin had noticed this and was quite openly taking advantage of it, attacking him most often on that side. Yet, all of his lunges were relatively slow, easy to evade. But each strike was made with such precision that that was all he _could_ do.

He couldn't block for risk of breaking more bones on those powerful punches. He couldn't counter-attack because he had his weapon holster on his right hip and was unable to reach toward it without leaving himself open. He couldn't even manage to grab his foe, the strikes were made so perfectly.

It was because of this that Uppun knew they were in a stalemate.

He was too fast to be hit, but too slow to counter in any way. It had turned into a battle to see who could go longest without making and mistake.

And it was starting to piss him off.

"You look tired."

The comment was made so randomly that it almost threw him off balance long enough for his opponent to get a hit in. As he ducked the punch, he glanced at the Leaf nin to find him sweating profusely and breathing heavily.

"You're not looking so hot yourself."

The Konoha nin merely nodded at this, continuing his assault.

But the boy was right, Uppun realized as he found himself taking deeper breaths as well. They were both right. They were becoming exhausted even though it had only been five minutes, neither one being accustomed to long battles.

It would end _soon_, mistake or no mistake.

The Kumo nin ground his teeth. He couldn't believe he was actually in a battle that he might lose simply because of his poor _stamina_. He was a quick-kill ninja! How did_ that_ happen?

With that thought, he decided to take an enormous risk. A risk that would either give him the chance to grapple or force him to quit due to injuries. Either way, it held the same chance of winning as prolonging the fight did.

He had no other thoughts when he brought his crippled arm up to block his foe's next punch.

The fist collided with a forearm and stopped dead in its tracks, showing how little power was behind the blow. Uppun smirked.

His gamble had paid off.

He took a moment to savor the shocked look on the Leaf genin's face before reaching over with his good arm and yanking the boy forward by the wrist. Just as his opponent lost his balance and began to take a forced step forward, The Kumo shinobi moved toward him, tripping him up with a leg.

With immense satisfaction, he watched the Konoha nin fall face-first to the dirt, reaching across his body for his weapon pouch. A moment later, he had a knee in his enemy's back and a kunai at the base of the boy's skull.

A kunai that wouldn't go down any farther.

With a snarl, he looked up at the proctor that had a grip on the back end of his kunai.

"That's enough. You don't have to kill him. You won."

The Uchiha's words made the Cloud genin clench his teeth. Why should he care if an enemy lost his life at his hands? It was one less foe to have to deal with. Besides, he had broken his wrist, damn it!?

With a look of disgust, he stood up, bringing the weapon with him.

"Winner: Teisuu Uppun!"

The raven haired boy started back towards the balcony in disgust, only to be accosted by a group of Konoha medic nins.

He growled viciously at them. "Go away! I don't need your stupid help!"

"If you want that wrist to heal properly, you do," declared one of them without batting an eyelash. "Now, shut up and come quietly or we_ force_ you to. No one in these exams is getting hurt and _not_ getting medical attention."

Glaring at every one of them, he grunted his assent. He knew he couldn't take on that many shinobi, no matter how poorly trained they were.

Nevertheless, he'd only trust them as far as they forced him to, and he _definitely_ wasn't going to spend the night there. He'd rather not be killed by one of them in his sleep.

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After a quick check-up with the medics below, during which he was given a chakra restoring pill to replenish his dwindling reserves, Tounyo walked back to his teammates with a thoughtful expression on his face. Of course, this didn't last long as Kizui leapt up and hooked an arm around his shoulder.

"Aw! Tou-chan was so close, too!"

The blond genin raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess it was."

"Only you could take no damage and still lose."

Tounyo looked back at where his female teammate was relaxing, Hana laying on her head, and chuckled. "You sure are playful today, Taru-chan."

She shrugged. "Been brimming with energy for some reason."

He chuckled again, turning back to the arena. His sensei put a hand on his shoulder. "You should have won that, Tounyo-kun. You had the advantage the whole time." The boy turned annoyed eyes on Konohamaru as the older ninja continued, bringing a hand up in front of him to mimic his words in actions. "If only you could have hit him once, you coulda been like 'Pow!' and 'Pow!' and then 'Whammo!'"

He rolled his eyes at his teacher's childish display. He knew the guy was just trying to cheer him up, but it wasn't really helping. It was little more than a short distraction.

It didn't change the fact that he realized he would have to change his current training regiment.

His stamina, which he had formerly thought was enough to win just about any match, was notably substandard. He now recognized the threat that was to him and his companions.

In addition, he came to the conclusion that not all enemies would make flaws that could be taken advantage of. After all, that was what they were trained for. His last opponent hadn't made any, and he was merely a genin. He could only imagine going up against a fully trained jounin or ANBU.

He sighed. There would be time to reorganize things after the preliminaries. For now, he figured, he should pay attention to the competition, help his teammates any way he could.

He glanced around, noting the significant number of combatants that had been unable to return. He almost laughed when he saw Taka out cold on the floor, a medic next to her, half-watching her, half-watching his surroundings. Counting her, fifty percent of the combatants had been forced to go to the infirmary. Only two had come back as of yet.

He shook his head. He should be there too. He had lost, so why wasn't he? Actually, he should be in his grave. Only Uchiha-san's immediate action had prevented that.

He frowned. It wasn't like him to be so negative. It would only increase his poor mood.

He was relatively sure that the jounin in the area had picked up on that vibe. That was probably why Konohamaru was trying to cheer him up. He could also tell that Taru had noticed it as well and was trying to distract him in her own, weird way. It was…kinda strange to have people doing that for him, aside from his mother. It was usually the other way around.

"_Come on, Tounyo. You're supposed to be the optimist in this group. Put on a façade if nothing else works."_

He scarcely had the chance before a groan from Kizui caught his attention, reminding him of the real world, where his sensei was still, somehow, monologuing.

"Awwww…I wanted to fight next…"

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Hari was not having a particularly good day.

First off, his teammate had fought and lost. That, in itself, wasn't all that surprising. In fact, considering how close she had gotten to defeating a genius, so-called by his companions, it was actually pretty impressive.

He was not, however, happy to find out that she had been keeping secrets from them, secrets having to do with her strength and abilities, which could have helped them plan had they ever needed those techniques.

He couldn't really say it was entirely unexpected, but it still pissed him off.

She was lucky she was in such bad shape, or he would've already been putting her through a ringer. Who knew what else she was keeping secret? He intended to find out.

The second thing that had turned his day rotten was the battle between Magusa and Sutamina.

He had begun to like both of them in the short amount of time that he had known them, especially Magusa. They weren't _really_ close to him, but he did like them.

Thus, the vicious, one-sided fight between them had been almost unbearable to watch. The power with which Suta had utterly _thrashed_ the Kiri nin was superb, astounding, and awe-inspiring.

But, most of all, it was terrifying.

To think he would bring out such power against an opponent he was already beating. Hari could only assume it was because of the apparent dispute over him that he would do such a thing.

Luckily, the younger looking genin seemed to pick up on the Leaf nin's uneasiness and kept his distance, staying with his sensei the entire time.

It was because of this that he started praying to whatever Kami was out there that his day make a miraculous turn-around when Katame's name came up on the battleboard.

Jakay Shan vs. Rokotsu Katame.

"Yosh!" This exclamation brought his attention to a bowl-cut, big eyebrowed boy in green tights and orange leg warmers. "It is finally my time to let my springtime of youth show!"

Hari sweatdropped when the boy's sensei, who looked nearly identical to him, stepped forward, pumping his fist in the air excitedly. "Yes, Shan! Your youthfulness shall lead you to victory!"

"Oh, Lee-sensei!" The boy turned around with his arms spread.

"Shan!" The sensei initiated a hug as a sunset appeared in the background.

Hari felt his eye twitch.

"Lee." The jounin looked up at his name, finally locating the voice's source as the proctor, Sasuke. The Uchiha quietly motioned toward the girl standing next to him, waiting patiently for her fight to begin.

Lee looked back at his student with tears in his eyes. "Show them the power of your youth!"

Shan turned. "Yosh! Indeed I shall!" With one leap, he was in the middle of the arena below.

It was at that moment that Hari's eyes caught something that made his blood run cold.

There, standing beside Lee, pointedly ignoring his cheering, was Nebin, the one who had taken out his other teammate. Suddenly, he realized that they were on the same team.

And that that team was based heavily in taijutsu.

"Shit." He cursed every Kami out there for giving Katame a fight in which she would be at a heavy disadvantage.

He mentally added that as the third thing on his 'List of Reasons Why Today Sucked'®.

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Shan stretched herself out, preparing her body for the coming battle by loosening any and all muscles. Her opponent watched this with a calm patience that almost unnerved the green clad kunoichi. The proctor, however, made his impatience obvious. He didn't say anything, but the way he was tapping his foot…

When she finally stood and settled into a taijutsu stance, the Uchiha spoke. "You ready now?" His tone was impassive, but Shan caught the underlying annoyance in it.

"Hai," she answered. Then, to her foe: "I look forward to the clashing of our springtime of youths."

Katame merely nodded, dropping into her own stance.

"Hajime!"

In a burst of speed, Shan was rushing Katame, watching the shocked look appear on her face. With slight regret at having such a short match, she swung a fist directly at her opponent's face.

She was surprised when the girl managed to deflect the blow just enough for it to merely launch her at the wall. Using the reflexes of a shinobi, she managed to land on the vertical stone and stick with her chakra.

A moment later, Shan was following her, excitement rushing through her veins. The fact that he foe could recover so quickly from both her shock and her punch only spurring her on.

She had an opponent that, though she couldn't match her in speed, could make for an interesting fight.

When she was close enough, she launched herself into a flying kick. Katame leapt out of the way easily enough, causing the bowl cut girl to hit the wall, sending a cloud of dust flying about.

Before it could even clear, Shan was following her opponent, who was now starting a set of hand seals. With an added boost of speed, she was within striking range well before it could be finished. The green clad genin noted how her enemy's face was still impassive as she dodged yet another blow by leaping away.

The match quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse. Shan would rush in with an attack, only for Katame to duck out of the way, moving out of range in the process, forcing Shan to start over again.

This continued for a good ten minutes.

It was then that the older kunoichi noticed slight mistakes in the younger girls motions, no doubt results of fatigue. With that realization came an additional rush of adrenalin, bringing with it a second wind.

In her next attack, she launched a typical punch for the head, causing her opponent to evade to the side, followed by a swift roundhouse kick. The girl barely managed to put up a guard against the blow, allowing it to merely send her skidding across the floor.

Shan quickly followed.

But it was in this short, in which she didn't have to worry about getting struck, that Katame put her hands together in a single sign, murmuring. "Kage Moudou no Jutsu." (Shadow Blindness)

Everything instantly went dark for the older genin. It took her only a moment to realize that, since a ninjutsu of this magnitude would require more than one hand seal from a measly genin, it had to be a genjutsu.

Shan laughed. Knowing the reputation of her sensei, she had to assume her foe thought her beat with that simple action.

But she wasn't like her teacher in _every_ regard.

She could use chakra. Not very efficiently, but she could still use it for the basic techniques and dispelling illusions.

So, she brought her hands up into the chakra gathering sign. "Kai!"

With that burst of energy, the genjutsu was gone.

Around her was the arena, everyone watching from the stands above. But one thing was conspicuously missing.

Her eyes narrowed.

Where was her opponent?


	21. Team Shino Fights

((Well, school's coming up again, and I'm off to college

((Okay, so, school started for me again. But not just any school, _college_. Yeah, it has nearly killed my writing time. I'm trying to do as much as I can, but I've been so busy that it's been slow going. Thus, this chapter is shorter than usual, but I wanted to get it to you as soon as possible. Let me know if you'd rather wait a bit more for longer chapters.))

**Disclaimer:** SSF (AKA me): "Say it."

Jiheki: "…"

SSF: "Say it, darn you!"

Jiheki: "…"

SSF: "Grrrrr."

Hato: "He can't, you idiot. He's unconscious."

SSF: "So what?! He should still be able to tell everyone that I don't own the Naruto-verse or any of the characters Kishimoto-sama created!"

Hato: "Mmhm…"

SSF: "And that I don't own any of the Cameos that people reviewed with!"

Hato: "You just did his job for him."

SSF: "Huh? I did? Wait. You tricked me!"

Hato: "Just let the poor audience read already."

SSF: "Fine but don't think you're getting away with this!"

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**Team Shino Fights**

Rei stared down at the fight below with only mild interest. The taijutsu battle was already incredibly one-sided. She could tell Katame was already getting tired. It wouldn't last much longer.

But that wasn't what she was really concerned about. For a good while now, she had had a feeling in her gut that just _told_ her that something bad was going to happen to someone she knew well. It had been giving her the jitters.

She glanced at the older Mist team on the opposite catwalk. Somehow, she knew whatever happened would include them.

The sword-wielder, hand casually resting on the hilt of his blade, brought his eyes up to hers, as if feeling her gaze on him. In that glance, she caught the man's curiosity, as well as his determined confidence. A confidence, she realized, that wouldn't be broken by the likes of _her_ or anyone else participating in these exams.

She broke eye contact before anything farther could be gleaned by either side. It took her only a second to recognize the fact that she now knew that no one among the examinees would stand a chance against either of the two on that team.

Over half of the fights had already taken place. There were still two of them left on her team that hadn't fought yet, herself and Hitayio. The chances of one of them battling a member of the dreaded Mist team, though not high yet, were slowly increasing. If this continued, she knew, one of them would be against their obvious betters.

Somehow, her gut told her this was the case.

Rei cursed, dropping her head.

She looked back up at Masaru's concerned nudging. She let her hand fall casually on the panther's head, giving him a reassuring smile. They both knew it was false, but the cat nin agreed that she shouldn't worry about it now. Who knew, maybe she'd be wrong.

She doubted it.

She brought her attention back to the fight below, trying to distract herself.

The neko-nin saw Katame take a hard hit, being sent flying across the arena. As the blue haired kunoichi righted herself, skidding, she brought her hands up into a seal. With her enhanced hearing, Rei heard the girl's murmured, "Kage Moudou no Jutsu." (Shadow Blindness)

She immediately recognized the genjutsu, a simple one that was taught at the academy. It simply cut off the enemy's sense of sight, easily dispelled.

She wasn't, however, expecting the combatant to start another set of hand signs nearly the moment the jutsu had activated. Watching attentively now, the cat nin saw her finish the seals just before her opponent released herself from the genjutsu.

"Magen: Niju Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu." (Demonic Illusions: Double False Surroundings Jutsu) The words were whispered, but Rei nonetheless heard them with her trained ears.

She was startled when the wall suddenly shifted forward, _through _the younger Leaf nin. By now, her foe had cleared the first genjutsu and was looking around in confusion.

"What's he doing?" inquired Hitayio, obviously in a state of confusion. "Where'd she go?!"

"He's a 'she', Hitayio-kun," responded Hotaru quietly.

"What? Really?" He turned an appraising look on the green-clad combatant. He brought a hand up to his chin, a mischievous glint in his eye. "This could be interesting in a few years."

Rei rolled her eyes, deciding to answer the original question in hopes of keeping him under control. "Seems like she's put the entire audience under a genjutsu. Must be trying to prevent outside interference."

The redhead blinked, never losing the glint. "I see." The words were said with so little emotion that the cat nin doubted he had even heard her explanation.

Rei sighed. She would never know what was going on in that head of his…

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Katame finished her clone before shooting up the wall behind her, using chakra through her legs.

She had long since realized she stood no chance in a taijutsu fight with this genin. She had also observed that she was much to fast to be struck by any of her ninjutsu unless it was point-blank and even then it wouldn't be a full-on strike, probably not even enough to really damage her, meaning she would have wasted chakra.

Thus, she had come up with her current plan, the only way she could see herself coming out of top of this fight.

She may have been inferior in nearly every aspect to the older kunoichi, but she still had her genjutsu and her brain. That was all she would need.

Unfortunately, she was running out of energy. She didn't know if she'd be able to even _stand_ after this plan of hers. Nonetheless, she had little choice.

She reached the roof and began the excruciatingly long series of seals that was required for the jutsu she wanted.

She noted, with some amusement, the confusion on her opponent's face as she looked around, trying to locate her. It would do little good unless she realized she was under a second genjutsu that simply moved the wall behind Katame's clone forward enough for the clone to be invisible.

Even if she were to notice, the clone would hopefully be able to keep her distracted long enough for her to finish the hand signs she was on.

The green-clad kunoichi turned toward her teacher. "Hinashin-chan, what happened? Where'd she go?"

The blue haired shinobi noticed her fellow genin grit his teeth. "I think it's a genjutsu. She must've put it on the whole area."

"I already cleared it away!"

"No! A second one!"

It was already too late.

The clone rushed out of the supposed wall, straight at her foe, kunai in hand.

"Use 'it' Shan! Before she can cast more illusions!" Lee-sensei commanded, receiving a nod from his apprentice.

As the clone came within striking range, the bowl cut kunoichi disappeared from view. A moment later, she reappeared below the clone with a foot planted in its jaw.

Katame noted with satisfaction that it was a good thing she had thought to cast the two genjutsu over the entire crowd because that kick looked incredibly powerful and seemed merely the set-up for the attack. Had she not cast it over everyone, she doubted the teacher would have told his student to waste so much energy on a mere clone.

As it was, she got to see the surprised look on her opponent's face just as she released herself from the ceiling, still stringing together seals.

Halfway down, Hinashin saw her and shouted a warning.

"Shan! Above you!"

Again, it was too late. By the time the black haired genin looked up, she was practically on top of her, just finishing her hand signs.

"Doton: Joro Senbon!" (Earth style: Sprinkling Needles)

In an instant, the earth burst through the stone floor. Shan leapt aside, dodging half of the attack. She grimaced when the half she couldn't avoid struck her lower body. She tried to roll to her feet but found her limbs wouldn't respond.

The green clad kunoichi fell flat on her side, conscious but in terrible pain. It wasn't long before the medics were there sedating her in order to be carried away and better cared for.

"Winner: Rokotsu Katame!"

The victor stared blankly as her opponent was carried away on a stretcher.

"No one ever looks up," she murmured, mostly to herself.

Then, she promptly passed out from chakra exhaustion.

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A man with short white hair and the black ninja vest to match the Sound hitai-ate around his head stopped outside a doorway. He glanced around briefly to make sure he was alone before bringing his hands into a short set of seals.

"Tsute Nintou no Jutsu!" (Mind Influence Jutsu)

He paused, taking a deep breath to reassure himself, before walking in the door with a feigned smile on his face.

"Konichiwa, Otokage-sama." He stated in a happy tone. "Feeling any better today?"

The only thing visible past the white and black robes of the Otokage was a bit of white hair sticking out from behind his tipped forward hat. The man snarled at the question.

"Of course not, Omoi. I won't feel better until I have myself a new body."

The subordinate bowed. "Gomen, Otokage-sama. Should I increase your dose of pain killer?"

The kage merely grunted what sounded like assent. Omoi moved quickly to the medicine stores nearby and refilled the IV slowing into his leader's arm before increasing the dose electronically. Finished, he turned toward the other man hesitantly.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Otokage-sama?"

There was a short silence before the hat lifted slightly. "Yes. Tell me, have you heard anything new about our four little run-aways?"

Omoi nodded. "Hai. They seem to have entered the Chuunin exams as Mist nin, though our spy says they still seem loyal to us."

"Hm…Keep an eye on them. I would like to see what they have planned if they really are still loyal. Should they prove useless or in the way, kill them."

"Of course, Otokage-sama."

"You're dismissed."

"Hai." With a slightly relieved sigh, he spun towards the door. Being near the Otokage always gave him a sense of unease, like he could see right through every act and every change he made on the man's goals. It was extremely unsettling.

"Oh, and Omoi."

The spy stopped, his hand on the door, looking over his shoulder.

"I suggest you don't use that jutsu of yours on me again." Omoi stiffened at this. "You may end up losing the fingers to use it with."

Shaking slightly, the man nodded. "O-of c-course, Otokage-sama. I'll never use it on you again."

He could feel the kage's smile under the hideously large hat. "Good. Now leave me to my peace."

Omoi was immediately out the door. After a quick glance to make sure he was still alone, he collapsed against the nearby wall, shaking.

He _had_ seen straight through all of Omoi's subtle manipulations. And he wasn't even trying to kill him.

He almost let out a sigh of relief. He knew he was strong; he had to be to get into the organization he was a part of. But he also knew that he stood no chance in a battle against that man, especially if he already knew what the spy was doing to his head.

He still couldn't believe he wasn't dead yet. It was drastically out of character for the man. Any normal spy would have been slain the moment there was even suspicion.

Omoi shook his head. The man either didn't realize he was a spy, despite his use of that jutsu, or he believed he had more of the spy's loyalty than whatever organization he was sent to observe for. Somehow, Omoi doubted it was the former.

He shook his head. At least he was alive. He would have to contact Leader-sama soon to tell him of this new development.

He stood up, composing himself. Until then, he would have to continue his duties as a spy.

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Hari let out a sigh of relief when he heard Katame declared the winner. This soon turned into a gasp of shock as he saw the blue haired kunoichi collapse where she stood. He was about to vault over the railing when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to Shino in confusion.

She will be fine." Hari felt the tension in his body lessen at his sensei's words. "It is merely chakra exhaustion. No worse than what she does to herself training."

The masked genin chuckled, mostly relaxed again. "Yeah, that does sound like Katame-chan." He looked down at the sleeping redhead beside him. "And this is just like Taka." He kicked her lightly on the leg. He got absolutely no reaction.

Hari noticed Katame and her opponent being carried out on stretchers, followed yb the green-clad jounin-sensei. He sighed tiredly. "At least she won. We can't get skunked now."

"You do not give yourself enough credit," answered his teacher.

"Says you," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. His attention was then drawn to the combatant board by the small ping that indicated the next match had been decided.

Kuwashii Hari vs. Ichijin no Suna.

The green haired genin blinked. He was fighting already? Even though his teammate had just fought? He hadn't expected that.

A sudden snort came from his right. He turned to find the female Sand nin standing a short distance from him. "So, you're the shrimp I get to wail on," she said cockily. She started past him toward the stairs. "Make sure you don't lose _too_ quickly. I want to have _some_ fun."

Hari's eyes narrowed. An arrogant one, huh? He'd just have to put her in her place.

He vaulted over the rail, pumping himself up. The two combatants reached the middle of the arena at approximately the same time. Both smirked at each other.

"I plan to give you all you can handle and more."

Ichijin raised an eyebrow, reaching for the weapon on her back. "Good to hear. I might actually enjoy this fight then." She brought the weapon in front of her and opened it up into a giant fan.

"Are you both ready?" asked the proctor.

The pair nodded. Hari smirked, dropping into a taijutsu stance.

"Hajime!"

The masked genin immediately pulled out four shuriken and tossed them at Ichijin. In a movement almost too fast for Hari to keep track of, the kunoichi flicked her massive fan around, blowing away all four of the projectiles.

The male combatant brought his hands up to guards his face against the gust as one of his shuriken flew just over his shoulder. "Shit," he murmured, "Of course I get the wind user…"

His opponent smirked at his disgruntled look. With another swing of her fan, she used her weakest technique. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Wind Scythe Jutsu)

Hari leapt to the side, avoiding the attack, cursing under his breath. "This is not good."

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Suta stared blankly at the fight below him. He wanted so badly to root for Hari in a very loud way as he had with his teammates, but he knew the masked genin was mad at him. He had gone a bit too far in his fight with Magusa.

Thus, he would remain quiet. He would make it up to the boy after the prelims. Maybe even apologize to the girl. _Maybe_.

But he didn't really regret it. She needed to be put in her place. Besides, he wanted to become chuunin. He was willing to admit he was selfish in that respect, but, then again, everyone there probably had the same goal in mind, which was essentially selfish. So, he didn't feel any different from anyone else there.

Suta looked back at the fight below him, gritting his teeth. Hari had been forced on the defensive, dodging blasts of wind, occasionally throwing a kunai as a distraction.

Scowling, the Cloud genin looked towards the masked nin's sensei. Why wasn't the man telling the boy to work harder? Surely, this wasn't Hari's best. He hadn't even forced his opponent to move her feet yet!

He glanced at the sleeping redhead on the ground. Too bad she was out of it. From what he could tell, _she_ would have been cheering. Unfortunately, she was too drugged up to do much of _anything_.

Frustrated beyond belief, he approached Hari's trench coat wearing sensei, leaving his own teacher with a confused look on his face. He saw the slight tilting of the Konoha jounin's head, indicating Sut ahad his attention.

"Why isn't he doing anything _useful?_" the genin asked, getting straight to the point.

The teacher looked back at the fight below before responding. "He has potential in ninjutsu. However, I am unable to teach him in this regard. For this reason, his primary focus is on taijutsu."

Sutamina frowned in irritation. So, he was terrible at genjutsu, or so he assumed since it hadn't been mentioned, he had no teacher for ninjutsu, and he couldn't get close enough for taijutsu. The young Cloud nin scowled. Surely there was _something_ the Leaf genin could do.

He spun on the battlefield. "Get your ass in gear, Hari-nii-san!"

That should get him going.

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A teenager with short spiked black hair in a chuunin vest sighed where he sat at the gate to Konoha. His black undershirt and pants went well with his tanned skin and stocky build. He tugged at the lip of the weapon pouch on his belt, his red eyes half-lidded in a bored fashion. "Kami, guard duty sucks."

The young man next to him chuckled good-naturedly, his shoulder-length black hair swaying. He turned his pearl eyes on the teen next to him. "You get used to it."

"Meh, doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

The man rolled his eyes. "Pessimist."

The teen just "hm"ed in response. He casually took the papers from a man coming into the city and scanned them tiredly. They seemed authentic, so he glanced at his partner. He saw the other nin close his eyes, turning off his Byakugan. The Hyuuga nodded, telling the teen that the foreigner could be let in. With a sigh, he returned the papers. As the man walked off, the teen let his cheek fall on his palm.

"Does anything exciting _ever_ happen here?"

The Hyuuga shrugged. "Occasionally. I've caught an enemy shinobi trying to sneak in under a Henge before."

The teen gave him a mild glare. "You call that exciting?"

The older nin smirked. "You shoulda seen the look on Ibiki-sama's face when he came by to pick the guy up. It was horrifyingly gleeful." He laughed. "I think the nin might have pissed his pants as he was being taken away."

The teen sat up straighter, looking slightly impressed. "That would be amusing." Then, he sighed, allowing his head to fall back to his palm. "Too bad nothing like that would happen now."

"Is it alright if I take a walk outside the village?"

The pair turned toward the new voice. A male about the age of 18 stood there in a black vest, tight net undershirt, and black pants, all blending with his mid-back length ebony hair. The man undid one of the pockets on his vest and reached in.

The two guards tensed at the action. The man took note of this and slowly took out the Mist hitai-ate from the vest. He flashed it at them to show that he wasn't an enemy. "I'm here for the chuunin exams. Unfortunately, I've already failed and need a way to relax."

The pair stared at him a moment before loosening up. The teen nodded toward the Hyuuga, who quickly activated his Byakugan. The teen looked back at the foreign ninja. "Failed already? That's gotta suck."

The man smiled sadly. "Yeah, I'm still not good enough. I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm meant for this shinobi stuff with how old I'm getting. Still a genin at 17…Who's ever head of that?"

The Konoha teen chuckled. "Aw, don't worry. I'm sure you've just been unlucky. You'll get by somehow, I just know it."

The Hyuuga took this time to deactivate his bloodline and shrug. "He's clear. Just typical shinobi equipment."

The Kiri nin grinned. "Thanks. I'll be back in about half an hour."

The Leaf guards nodded and watched the man walk off. Eventually, the Hyuuga turned to his companion. "That was awful nice of you, Sarutobi-san. You don't normally cheer people up."

The Sarutobi rolled his eyes. "I just didn't want him going emo on me…"

The Hyuuga shook his head in mock pity. "Sometimes I wonder where you got your lackadaisical nature…"

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"Get your ass in gear, Hari-nii-chan!"

The Leaf genin scowled, rolling out of the way, of another wind blast. "Working on it, teme!" With a grimace, he watched his opponent pull back her fan for another swing.

The most frustrating part was that he _knew_ how he could win; he just had trouble _getting_ there.

He threw a kunai, hoping to distract her, only for the kunoichi to swing her fan as if it wasn't even there. Caught slightly off balance by the gust, Hari tried to leap aside, only to take half the attack. Cuts littered his body as he skidded to a halt a short distance away.

"You can't be tired already. We're just getting started."

The Leaf genin growled, reaching for more weapons. He cursed silently when he found he only had four shuriken and a kunai left, which he would need if he was to ever pull off his plan.

He glared at Ichijin as she pulled back for another swing. Then, he caught a glint of metal on the ground beside her.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"

Hari smirked, going through two quick seals. With a 'poof', he was replaced by a stray kunai. The Sand kunoichi's eyes widened as she caught sight of him in her peripheral vision, already pulling back for a punch.

Falling back on ingrained reflexes, she managed to lean back, barely avoiding the hit, into a back flip. She landed near a wall and immediately began re-analyzing her foe. Yet, she found him standing exhaustedly, bloodied, with four shuriken spinning weakly on his fingers.

Ichijin relaxed her stance. It was clear he was nearly spent. "Give it up already. You can't win."

The masked genin snarled, bringing the shuriken up in front of him. "I'm not done yet."

The female shinobi laughed. "You can't seriously think you can hit me with shuriken after all you've thrown at me-"

She cut short when her opponent let his weapons loose. She tensed, ready to defend herself to her shock, none of the shuriken even came close to hitting her, with two sticking firmly in the wall on each side of her. Ichijin raised an eyebrow, glancing at each of the weapons.

"You really are pathetic. You didn't even get close."

She barely caught the smirk on her foe's face before she saw him make a very firm yanking motion. Suddenly, she felt three nearly invisible wires in a Z shape snag her front and push her back against the wall. She immediately struggled but only succeeded in digging the wire further into her skin.

She groaned as Hari walked up to her, one hand keeping the wire taut, while the other brought out a kunai to hold to her throat.

"This is one of my favorite traps. All it took was a little editing to make it useful in field combat. Though, usually, this kunai would already be in your throat." He stared into her now frightened eyes darkly. "Be glad I didn't want you to be my first direct kill."

"Winner: Kuwashii Hari."

The voice was so close that it startled both of them. Uchiha Sasuke stood right next to them. The masked genin raised an eyebrow, releasing the Sand nin. Somehow, he doubted he would have been able to kill her even if he had wanted to with the legendary ninja watching over them.

Hari let out a relieved sigh and dropped on his butt. His attention snapped up when his foe walked by him, an extremely irritated look about her, giving him a glare that could almost kill as she walked by. The masked genin rolled his eyes. He certainly hadn't made any new friends.

"Please, take this, Kuwashii-san."

He looked up to find a medic standing over him, holding out a pill.

"It'll help restore you chakra."

Nodding, Hari accepted the medication and popped it into his mouth, swallowing without water. "Could you take me to see a few patients?"

The medic smiled, helping him up. "Sure. Who'd you like to see?"

The masked genin eyes smiled back. "Arigatou. A couple people…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0oOmake!!0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hato sat in his hospital bed, trying to get to sleep. Beside him lay the Sand nin, Jiheki, unconscious. The Leaf nin took one last scan of the room before closing his eyes for some much needed rest-

-Only for a drop of water to hit him square in the forehead. He jerked into a sitting position, wide awake. He looked about the room frantically, finishing by looking up at where the drop had supposedly come from.

He tilted his head in confusion. _"What the hell?"_ he thought. With mild paranoia, he laid back down, keeping his ninja senses action as best he could with his eyes closed.

For ten minutes, nothing happened.

Just as he was starting to relax into slumber again, another drop struck his forehead.

He shot up once more, this time looking directly up. Yet, there wasn't anything there. Becoming irritated, he stared down the spot above his head. With an obstinate jerk, he pulled his pillow to the side of the bed and laid down on his side.

It took him another five minutes before he was relaxed enough to drift off to sleep. Just as he began to feel the welcome darkness enclose him, he felt another drop hit him in the side of the head.

Jumping up in his bed, he cursed violently. "Damn you, SSF, and your Chinese water torture!"

"Bwahahahahaha. Payback's a bitch." (Note: see the disclaimer)


	22. Deadly Combatant

(I apologize for the severe lateness of this chapter. College life sapped me of time in which to write. It didn't help that my hard drive crashed midway through the semester, taking weeks to fix…Anyway, I'm hoping I can get a few chapters out before school starts again on the 10th. We'll see how true that is.)

**Deadly Combatant**

Rei stared as Hari was lead toward the infirmary. She was surprised. She had heard his sensei say that he was primarily focused on taijutsu and remembered that the sparring period was about the only time he had paid attention at the academy.

She had taken his for an idiotic fighter.

Yet, he had shown shocking genius in his strategy.

She _had_ heard that he was incredibly with traps. Perhaps he had adapted those calculation for battle.

But those were definitely not the actions of an idiot. That was not the strategy of a moron.

Rei was impressed with the change.

"Guess I'd better go check on my teammates, too," a voice whispered just loud enough for her enhanced senses to catch.

The cat nin looked up to see the only remaining Cloud nin walking toward the stairs. She scowled viciously. He should have already _been_ checking on them. She didn't care that his sensei had gone to make sure they were fine, it was matter of principle.

It didn't help that it seemed the brat didn't view her as a threat and, thus, didn't feel the need to see her abilities in battle.

What was worse was that she still couldn't shake her horrible sense of dread. It was like a poisonous snake she couldn't see, constantly there, constantly dangerous, and keeping her constantly fearful.

And it got worse whenever she looked at the older Mist team. She shook herself like a drying cat. Don't worry about it now. She'd figure something out when she had to fight one of the threats. She looked up at the ping of the battleboard-

-And felt her blood run cold.

Hou Chiku vs. Hak-kah Hitayio

She glanced across at the Mist team to find the male walking toward the arena. Somehow, she had known that Chiku was one of them. She shivered in fear. If he was anything like the one they had run into in the ruins…

She turned to Hitayio to find him pale and unmoving, holding a vice grip on the rail in front of him. Rei cursed under her breath. He was still sensitive about the whooping they had received. It had utterly crushed his confidence. Facing the guy's _teammate_ was probably only making it worse.

The way things were, he stood no chance.

Rei realized, at this point, that this was what she had been dreading. It had nothing to do with her but with her emotionally charged companion.

This was _not_ going to turn out well.

She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth in frustration. What should she do?

She didn't have a chance to decide before their sensei stepped in.

"Alright, Hitayio! Go kick his ass!"

Hitayio almost jumped out of his skin when the jounin slapped a hand on his shoulder. That cat nin saw the panic rising in his eyes in conjunction with her own. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, clenching her fist.

"Calm down!" She was surprised to hear her own voice. Her eyes rose to meet the shocked stare of her teammate. "He may not be as strong as his teammate. At least give it a try." She realized as she finished that she was talking just as much to herself as to Hitayio.

"Yeah, Hitayio-kun." Both teammates turned toward Hotaru's soft voice. "As long as you try, it's okay."

Kiba-sensei picked up on the seriousness and went along with it. "If he turns out to be too much for you, you can surrender before getting too badly injured."

The black and red haired genin lowered his head in shame. "You won't think I'm a disgrace to the team?"

The jounin shook his head. "Nonsense. Falling back is a very strategic maneuver. You can't win later if you die now."

"Any day now," called the proctor from below.

Hitayio frowned before putting on a look of determination. "All right then. I'll give it a try. Thanks, guys." With one last obviously falsified grin on his face, he hopped over the rail.

Rei ground her teeth in frustration. This would not end well, she could tell, but she could see little other option. Preventing him from fighting or even recommending her just no try, would completely destroy his fragile self-confidence. At least this way, there was a chance of convincing him it was because his foe was way above the level of any genin in the room.

She only prayed he didn't get killed by this.

The cat nin also sensed Kiba-sensei tensed next to her, ready to act. Obviously, he was having the same concerns she was, only he stood a chance of actually doing something should it come to that.

She looked down at Hitayio with a worried frown. With a start, she realized he was already doing hand seals. She cursed when she recognized the jutsu.

"Shit! Hitayio, you dumbass, now's not the time for incomplete jutsu." She said this quietly, knowing that if he were to succeed, he would need full concentration.

If he managed it, he might just stand a chance.

If he failed, it would be over already. His chakra would be exhausted from the attempt.

Rei gave him about a 10 percent chance of success.

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Hitayio landed lightly on the floor of the arena and jogged to the middle, tense with anticipation and barely contained fear.

"Ready now?" the proctor asked him.

The Leaf genin nodded trying to keep his face straight.

His opponent spoke before the Uchiha jounin could start the match. "You stand no chance of winning. You should surrender."

Hitayio glowered at the older genin, pushing back the panic rising within him. He could do this. All he had to do was try.

"Start the match," was all he murmured, directing it at Sasuke.

"Hajime!"

"I give you one move. Then, I shall defeat you in two."

The Konoha genin scowled, beginning a set of hand signs. He already knew what jutsu he would use if he only had one chance. It was a risk, an unperfected jutsu, but well worth it. If he succeeded, his foe would be rendered completely vulnerable. If not, he was screwed.

He poured his full concentration into the jutsu, hoping his adversary kept his word. He tried to remember how he had done it before and mimicked that memory as closely as he could. He brought forth the chakra as he landed on the last seal.

"Suiton: Unabara!"

A water line in the wall ruptured violently into the room. Water flooded the room until there was a three inch layer. Hitayio cursed. That meant that there either wasn't enough water around or that he had failed the jutsu. Either way, he was screwed. He could already feel the chakra drain.

He felt movement in the direction of his opponent and moved into a sidestep. He saw his enemy's blade, which had been drawn so fast he hadn't even seen it, ar diagonally into the area his torso had occupied moment before.

In a blur of motion so quick that the Leaf nin barely caught it, the older genin twisted the sword and thrust it at Hitayio. The younger nin went to avoid it to the left, only to fell a solid point tip into his front, even though he was sure the blade hadn't made it to him yet. He continued left, feeling the force tear the flesh of his side as it continued to get deeper. He pushed himself backward as the unseen weapon broke free of his skin.

Hitayio let out an anguished cry as the pain finally kicked in, dropping into the fetal position, holding his injured side. Blood flowed swiftly onto the ground; he knew he wouldn't be conscious long. He forced his eyes open just long enough to see his foe standing over him, his sword held to the side casually. He allowed them to shut as he felt medic nins close in around him, pumping him with numbing chakra.

A few seconds later, he was unconscious.

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The Naruto clone scowled irritably, kicking a rock on the side of the road just outside the village. Kakashi watched him blankly as the pair, plus Pakkun, walked back toward the gate.

"I can't believe we lost him!" growled Naruto.

The scarecrow nin remained silent a moment before responding. "The Mist nin is very skilled; clearly not a genin."

The clone kicked another rock angrily. "We should still have been able to track him. He stopped so many times, and we never could catch up! He must be at the level of a jounin at least!"

The older nin thought about it. "I wouldn't be surprised."

The blonde stopped where he was, turning to his former sensei. "So, what do we do now?"

Kakashi continued walking toward the village. "We can't track him since he seems able to disperse his scent, his trail disappearing a short distance out, and any noise he makes, preventing pursuit of that. It would be best to alert the guards to keep an eye out for the shinobi and then investigate all of the locations that he stopped. There must be a reason he paused at each spot."

"Hai. Sounds like a plan."

With a quick Shunshin, they landed in front of the two gate guards. The younger of the two chuunin nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise. "Naruto-sempai! Hatake-san! Don't scare me like that" The elder chuunin, obviously a Hyuuga, sighed, shaking his head as he went back to checking the paperwork of an incoming caravan.

Naruto chuckled at the boy's inexperience. Kakashi took the chance to get down to business. "Did you see a Mist nin come through here?"

The chuunin seemed a little taken aback by that. "Er…Well, yeah. About a minute before we saw you rush by."

"And you just let him by!?" hissed Naruto in frustration.

"He was clean, Naruto-san," stated the Hyuuga tonelessly as he joined them. The caravan bringing their supplies into their city. "No dangerous equipment and good paper work. We had little choice. There was nothing suspicious."

The blonde grunted in reluctant acceptance. The white haired jounin assumed control once more. "But you've seen him, right?" The chuunin pair nodded. "Good. Keep an eye out for him to return to the village. Tell either me, Naruto, or Hokage-sama immediately when he steps through those gates."

"Hai."

"Good. Now, let's go, Naruto."

Naruto rolled his eyes as his sensei disappeared in a swirl of leaves. "I don't see what good searching again will do." With a sigh and a puff of smoke, he was gone as well.

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Hou Chiku looked down at his opponent's bleeding form with a slight frown. The medics were already on the boy, stitching up the gaping wound and quickly bringing out a stretcher. The Sound nin didn't get it. That was supposed to have been a killing blow. Yet, the Leaf shinobi's reaction time had been much better than he had predicted. It was very disconcerting.

Chiku let out a soft sigh, slightly disappointed in his inability to finish what he started. He was brought back to attention by a medic-nin approaching him from the side.

"Ano…Are you alright?"

The undercover Sound nin paused a moment before responding. "I received no injuries. You should go help treat the boy."

The medic looked incredibly unsure of himself with a healthy bit of fear mixed in. "Ano…But we are supposed to give at least brief examinations to all participants after their match."

Chiku turned a glare on him that quite clearly said, 'leave me alone,' causing the medic's eyes to widen. "Go." The command was met with immediate obedience, the medic retreating quickly to the infirmary alongside the stretcher carrying the injured genin.

A second later, the proctor walked up beside him. "That was quite the easy victory you had there." The 'genin' didn't answer, nor turn to look at the man. After a short silence, the jounin continued. "I know you're not from Mist."

This time, Chiku did turn his gaze on him, only slightly surprised to meet the red of the Sharingan. The two stared at each other for nearly a minute before the Sound shinobi raised an eyebrow with a look of amusement. It was clear to him that the Uchiha still didn't have a clue what they were doing; after all, the Sharingan may have a lot of powers, but it was not a mind reader. He turned away, a smug look on his face.

"I suggest you all cover your ears." He hadn't said it loudly, but he was sure every ninja there had heard it. He waited for them to follow his orders before releasing the chakra around his sword.

A shockwave of sound energy burst from the blade, physical enough to force many of the genin there to take a step back. Then, it was gone.

Sheathing the sword, Chiku silently walked up the stairs to join his teammate and sensei. When he turned to the arena floor without comment, Nami decided to make one herself.

"You surprise me, Chiku-kun. Normally, you'd have finished him off lickity-split."

Behind them, their 'sensei' chuckled. "Perhaps, Chiku-chan finally found a worthy lover!"

The kunoichi glared at him. "Just shut up, Zakyou."

The chuunin grinned, ignoring her. "Maybe her really _is_ homosexual. I've certainly never seen him ogling any girls before."

Name scowled. "Zakyou, get back in that head of yours before I beat it around until you don't _have_ a head."

Zakyou leaned back against the wall, pouting. "Fine." A second later, there was a very distinct glower on the man's face. "What?" he snarled viciously.

The young woman brightened. "Ah, good, Kataki, someone useful. Do us a favor and keep an eye on Uzumaki and the Hokage."

The teacher "Hn"ed, turning his gaze on the pair mentioned.

Name turned back to her teammate to find him staring back. It made her very uneasy. "What?"

He looked toward the arena below them. "I think we may be making an error in judgment on this one."

The female tilted her head curiously. "Why's that?"

"Clearly, Konohagakure's training system is much better than we gave them credit for. Ours is much weaker in comparison. It makes me wonder whether making a move on the second set of Sannin is such a good idea with our training."

The kunoichi looked insulted. "Bull shit! The Uchiha couldn't even keep up with your moves down there."

Chiku stared at her. "he didn't have his Sharingan activated and was distracted trying to figure out my sword style, which I'm relatively sure he recognizes now." His companion remained silent as she processed that. "We're going to be under careful scrutiny now, so we must be even more cautious." He gazed at her meaningfully.

Name gulped. "Hai."

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((Again, apologies for the lateness of this and the shortness. I'm trying to make it so that I can get more chapters out faster. I'm hoping I'll have one done by next week. And I'm sorry to Taru Toshito and mintmelodygirl for not getting to their fights yet (they are very soon) and to Mashu the Assassin for the previous fight (seriously, his foe was jounin level; no one stood a chance against him).

Anyway, thank you to anyone who reviews. I love you all.))


	23. Cat Fight

((Alright. I'm on time for once. I guess it's a slightly late Christmas present to all of you. Anyway, to the story.))

**Cat Fight**

Ino shook herself after the shockwave of sound washed over her. She saw the other jounin near her, as well as the Hokage, composing themselves. That burst had been very disorienting.

"What theh-!?" started Naruto in a voice much too loud for the distance between them, making the group flinch away from him. He stopped, his eyes wide in shock. "Whoa…I can barely hear myself!" he shouted.

Ino quickly socked him on top of the head. "Not so loud, you baka!"

He looked at her blankly, rubbing his head. "What?"

She punched him again for his continued volume. When he finally looked up again, she pointed toward her lips, meaning for him to read them. "Be quieter, baka."

He tilted his head in confusion. "I'm being loud?"

A third lump on the head was his answer. As he got back up, pouting, Ino spoke again. "Got it?"

Naruto frowned, working to keep his voice at normal level, which was still considered loud to a normal human. "Yeah."

The female blonde glared at him. "You better."

Beside her, Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What _was_ that?"

The two blond jounin shrugged. How were they supposed to know?

"It was clearly some sort of shockwave," interjected Shikamaru. "Probably something to do with sound, judging from how much damage it did to Naruto's ears."

The two women stiffened. The tense silence was broken rather quickly by Naruto. "Could you say that again, Shika? I missed it."

The Hokage leaned forward, whispering now. "Think that team could be from Oto?"

"I can't say for sure. It's only one technique. It could be a stolen jutsu for all I know." The Nara shrugged helplessly.

The Godaime frowned in thought. "Get Sasuke up here."

Ino turned, calling, "Sasuke-kun!" She motioned him up to them.

Naruto held out a hand. "Hold up, hold up. What now?"

The group ignored him, watching as the Uchiha landed next to him. The raven haired proctor looked at Tsunade expectantly.

"What do you think of the older Mist team?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "They're good. Too good for genin."

When he paused the Hokage prodded him to continue. "Anything else?"

He hesitated a moment before responding. "The swordsman isn't originally from Kiri."

"Would you all slow down! I can't keep up when reading lips."

Ignoring Naruto, Tsunade continued to investigate. "How do you know?"

"I recognize the sword style. It took me a while to identify since I didn't have much direct contact with it, but it's definitely Oto's basic style. At some point, that boy was trained in the Hidden Sound Village."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"Is it possible that he could have learned it somewhere else?" asked Ino.

"To the best of my knowledge, no. Anyone that thinks about leaving is typically killed before they get the chance. I don't know how they always found out about it, but this is the first I've ever seen of anyone getting out aside from myself."

"So what?" inquired Ino. "You think they were _allowed_ to go? You think they're still loyal to Sound?"

"It's possible."

As soon as Naruto noticed the ensuing silence, he shook his head sadly. "Damn, barely being able to hear sucks. I'm _so_ lost."

"What are we going to do about it?" asked the jounin kunoichi.

"We're not doing anything yet." The group, excluding Naruto, stared at Shikamaru in shock. "We're not going to jump to conclusions. Our relationship with Kiri is tentative as it is. We can't push that any farther. The most we can do is continue keeping a close eye on the team from the shadows." He left it unsaid that they didn't want the enemy knowing that they were onto them.

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples. "Why can't things ever be easy?" She looked up at Sasuke intensely. "I want you ready to act on a moment's notice when that Mist kunoichi is on the field." She turned on Ino and Shikamaru. "I want the two of you ready to interrogate the whole team as soon as the prelims are over, including the one that forfeited and suck away, should Naruto ever find him." She spun on Naruto. "And you…Stand here and look intimidating. Now, get to work!"

Sasuke jumped back down to the arena as Shikamaru and Ino began whispering ideas. Naruto glanced around in confusion.

"What's going on now?"

The Hokage patted his arm comfortingly. "Nothing, Naruto. Just stand there like I told you to."

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Taru hissed violently. Even though she was covering her ears, that sound wave had _hurt_. She could already feel the headache coming on. Sometimes having cat-like hearing was more of a curse than a blessing…

Holding her forehead, she lifted her eyes to look around. She saw her sensei shake his head as if trying to clear it. She snickered, despite her pain, when her eyes landed on her teammates.

Tounyo stood holding his hands over Kizui's ears, while Kizui flailed about uselessly. She walked over to them with a smirk.

As she approached, Tounyo looked up at her. She motioned for him to stop, having little doubt that he wouldn't be able to hear her. He released the white haired genin, causing him to stumble forward. Kizui spun on his teammate irritably.

"What the hell was that for? I can cover my own ears, ya know!"

"But you wouldn't have," Taru pointed out.

Kizui had the modesty to look sheepish. "So?"

"So, Tounyo-kun knew you wouldn't and decided that, since he's already fought, it would be better if he got hit by whatever it was than if you got hit by it," Taru answered for Tounyo, knowing how he typically thought.

Kizui laughed nervously, rubbing the backs of his head. "Thanks, Tou-chan."

Taru raised an eyebrow. "You know, he probably can't hear you."

The boy tilted his head in confusion. "Why's that?"

The cat nin rubbed her ears lightly, hoping to lessen her growing headache. "Because that attack targeted the outer ear. It likely temporarily ruined his hearing. Even though I covered my ears, it still hurt my sharp hearing some." She sighed. "What a pain."

She turned toward Tounyo, who had a frown on his face, digging into his ear with a finger. She shook her head in pity. He really should've just covered his own ears.

She glanced around at the rest of the crowd. Most of them seemed to have taken the Mist nin's advice seriously. The only one that obviously couldn't hear, judging by how loudly he was talking, was the great Naruto.

She caught her sensei look at the orange clad jounin out of the corner of her eye. He then rolled his eyes and ignored him, like much of the rest of the room. She finally settled on shrugging and joining the rest in ignoring him.

"Aw...Why can't I fight yet?" At Kisui's groan, Taru turned to look at the battle board. She hissed at what she saw.

Felina Rei vs. Seidou Taru.

Why did she have to fight the other neko nin? Their styles were so similar that it would make it nearly impossible for either to gain a decisive advantage.

At least she wasn't fighting the other older Kiri nin. From what she saw of that swordsman, that could be deadly.

She sighed when she saw her opponent hop over the rail, pocketing her red sunglasses with eyes burning angrily, followed by her panther. It didn't help that Rei had a solid reason for going all-out at the start since she wanted to go check on her teammate ASAP. This was going to be _such_ a pain.

She prodded Hana to get her attention where she lay on her head as she walked down the steps. It was a good thing the cat was smart enough to have covered its own ears…

Taru noticed that the proctor had gone to talk to the Hokage, so she was in no hurry. She could hear Kizui already cheering her on loudly behind her.

She rubbed her temples, still trying ineffectively to clear away her headache. Hana leapt off her head to the ground beside her gracefully.

Trau reached the middle and met Rei's fiery eyes.

"I'm sorry, Taru," she stated firmly, "I hold a lot of respect for you as a fellow neko nin, but I am going to end this match quickly." She dropped into a taijutsu pose, the panther crouching threateningly beside her.

Taru smirked slightly. Maybe she could use that anger to her advantage after all. "Eager to check on your boyfriend?" she asked with a hint of mocking showing through.

Rei's eyes narrowed. "Don't push it, fur ball."

Taru's eyes widened in feigned surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry. I got it wrong, didn't i? it's a case of unrequited love."

Rei snarled, fingernails lengthening into claws as chakra was pumped into them.

Taru sighed mentally. That was it. She had made her decision and taken the risk of angering her foe. She only hoped she could twist it to her own will the way Tounyo-kun always could.

She dropped down into her own fighting stance, beginning her two signature jutsu. "Shikyaku no Jutsu!" (Beast Mimicry: All Fours Jutsu) "Jujin Bunshin!" (Man-Beast Clone) Hana became a second Taru beside her as her own features became more beast-like.

The proctor appeared between them, apparently having finished his conversation with the Hokage. He took one look at each combatant and shouted. "Begin!"

Taru was unsurprised when Rei immediately rushed forward, her panther a step behind. Taru pulled out a pair of smoke bombs from her weapon pouch, lobbing one just in front of her opponent and allowing the other to fall at her feet.

As the smoke engulfed the arena, Taru smirked. Time to take advantage of that anger.

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Rei continued through the smoke, her eyes burning red in anger, and slashed at her foe.

She awung at air. Taru was gone.

Rei hissed viciously, Masaru growling beside her. Where was she? She'd find her, rip her apart, and then go check on Hitayio.

Not that she _liked_ him or anything because she didn't.

It was just friendly concern.

Very strong friendly concern.

But first she had to find Taru and punish her for making such ridiculous assumptions.

She spun around, listening for any sort of sound. After a few moment, she heard a clank and darted towards it.

Rei lashed out at the location the sound had come from.

Nothing was there.

Pain burst from her back as a kunai was buried there. She spun, swiping out, only to find smoke. Beside her, Masaru whimpered in pain. Rei noted that she could smell the cat's blood.

She felt her blood boil.

How dare Taru injure both her and Masaru!?

Now, she was pissed!

She roared loudly, smoke backing away from her as furious blue chakra, with hints of black, poured off of her. She saw the cut on Masaru's back and became angrier.

Masaru whimpered again, this time in fear, cowering away from her. Rei paused, suddenly unsure. Maybe this wasn't right.

She flinched as another kuani struck her shoulder.

No, this wasn't right. Taru wasn't truly an enemy. They were from the same village, had graduated in the same class!

Plus, she wasn't sure she could win this way.

No, she needed to stop and calm down. He scores were higher than Taru's during class. She could out-think her. She just had to pause and start planning.

The aura of chakra around her diminished, the smoker merging on the area once more. She took a deep breath.

Stay calm. Focus. Think.

She heard the whoosh of another kunai and sidestepped. She felt it fly by her. That was more like it!

She took a second deep breath; in this one, she accepted the smells from around her. It took her less than a second to locate her foe. Time to strike back!

Rei sprinted toward Taru, claws at the ready. She slashed at where she knew her opponent to be. She heard a gasp, followed by the ripping of cloth.

She smirked. She had gotten close.

As long as she ignored the pain in her back and shoulder, it was a deuce in this smoke. Their senses were nearly the same. The real fight would begin anew once the cloud cleared, and they could do more than just smell and hear.

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Taru scowled in annoyance, throwing another kunai. Around her, the smoke was dispersing steadily. That, itself, was enough to force her to go close-quarters with her opponent, which she was hesitant to do knowing that that was her specialty, even if it was hers as well. Normally, she could just toss another smoke bomb or two and that would settle it.

Unfortunately, she was also running out of kunai. She wouldn't have any ranged attacks left anyway. Hana never had any to begin with; she had been using claws the whole time. Thus, she had little choice but to attack Rei up close.

She just _knew_ that was a bad idea. It didn't help that Rei didn't seem as angry any more.

She dodged another claw swipe, hissing when it cut into her side just enough to draw blood. _"Stay focused, Taru,"_ she thought to herself. _"If you've got no choice, get it over with already."_

"What a pain," she murmured.

Rei must've heard her because Taru was forced to dodge another slash. The blonde countered by throwing the kunai in her hand and following it up, chakra already pumping into her fingers to sharpen her nails into short claws.

By then, the smoke was thin enough that she saw he foe sidestep the projectile. She rushed in, jabbing with her claws.

Apparently, Rei could see her as well because she spun into a dodge. Continuing the rotation, she lashed out with her own claws at Taru's chest. Taru leaned back into a sort of limbo, avoiding the blow. She pulled around into an underhanded swipe. Rei stepped back momentarily, evading the attack.

She darted back in, and the dance resumed.

It was nearly two minutes before either of them finally landed a strike, more than enough time for the air to have cleared. Even then, Rei only managed a glancing blow on Taru's shoulder.

The blonde hopped back to put some distance between them, already breathing heavily. She probably needed to work on that stamina. Luckily, Rei didn't follow her. It looked like she was tiring as well, though Taru suspected that the blood loss from her wounds had something to do with it, too.

Her clone, Hana soon joined her, blood pouring down her forehead and leg. Taru scowled. Hana must've been fighting the panther. The genin looked across at the other cat, who now stood next to its master. She smirked when she saw the blood pouring down its flank, not fatal but definitely notable.

Overall, it seemed about even.

Taru needed to think of something to give the advantage to her again. As it was, the fight would be too close of comfort.

After a few seconds of thought, she sighed in exasperation. "This is going to be such a pain, but it's our best chance, I'd say," she muttered to Hana. Then, calling to her opponent. "How about a tag team fight?"

Rei raised an eyebrow, taking a steadying breath with a hand over her wounded shoulder. "I don't see why not," she answered after a moment.

Taru nodded, resisting the urge to hold her own injured shoulder. Without another word, both darted forward, resuming their deadly dance with their cat companions circling a few steps back, ready to step in. less than ten seconds in, Taru sensed Hana tense up, getting ready to spring. The blonde leapt back at the same moment her partner shot forward. This surprised Rei just enough for her dodge to be a tad slow, allowing Hana to slash across her chest with her claws.

With a hiss, Rei hopped back as well, letting her panther take over. From there, the fight turned into a dangerous rotation as the two ducked and rolled around each other, throwing in attacks when possible.

On the outside, Taru prepared herself to re-enter the fray. Realizing this, Hana fell back at the same time. Unfortunately, the panther seemed to expect this because it dropped back as well, Rei intercepting Taru. The dance resumed for a few seconds.

Rei and the panther switched at the same time as Taru and Hana.

Good. They were catching on. Now to create a little more chaos.

She switched again. And again and again. Rei and her partner joined them in their pirouette.

Soon, the teams were going in and out so fast that it was hard to keep track. Even Taru was having trouble. She doubted Hana, being a kitten, could tell at all anymore. She hoped it was the same for her opponents.

With one last swing, she leapt back and pulled her hands into a seal. "Henge no Jutsu." (Transformation jutsu) She withheld as much of her chakra as she could to prevent the covering chakra smoke that usually accompanied the technique. It would only draw attention to her here. Instead, she relied on the distraction of combat to cover the action.

Her form shifted almost instantaneously into the taller girl, a hitai-ate forming over her chest. Taru would have blushed at the netting that became her shirt if it had actually been her body. She even made sure to mimic the injuries covering the girl's body.

Now in Rei's form, Taru darted back in. she immediately came fact to face with what looked like her, no doubt Hana. The real Taru dodged the first strike and countered in a way she knew Hana could evade, taking effort to make it look realistic.

She fell back to where Rei had been when the match started and waited for the panther to join her. She glared across the arena in a way she thought Rei might. She was surprised when two Taru clones appeared there as the black cat came to a stop next to her.

Taru cursed mentally when she realized what that meant. Rei had used the same strategy as her.

The blonde turned on the panther before it could take a sniff and conclude that she wasn't Rei. Unwilling to do serious damage to a fellow cat nin's partner, she balled her hands and punched the panther in the cheek. The cat flew back with a yelp, collapsing in a heap.

She straightened, looking back at the two Taru's. she sighed, whether from relief or irritation she didn't know, at the sight of Hana in her normal form, unconscious. She stared at the Taru opposite her, both breathing heavily. Both released their transformation simultaneously.

The blond genin took a quick stock of her opponetn's condition. There were a number of new cuts and scrapes, but none of them were disabling. Exhaustion seemed to be setting in as well. Overall, she was in pretty bad shape.

But so was Taru. Now that she had stopped, she noticed a number of shallow cuts across her body, and her chakra was getting dangerously low. She had, at most, a minute left in her.

She needed to end it _soon_.

"What a pain…" the blonde muttered to herself.

She dropped into a combat stance. Rei soon joined her. The look in both of their eyes said that this would be the last melee. They would go all-out.

With an unspoken signal, both charged. Taru lashed out, missed, avoided the counterattack, and struck again. Rei spun to the side.

Taking a gamble, Taru jabbed. Rei came out of her rotation doing the same. Their hands passed within millimeters of each other, allowing them to feel the wind of their foe's attack.

Rei's claws, with her slightly longer reach, entered Taru's stomach first. Moment later, Taru's claws did the same.

Pain shot through Taru, making her grimace. She smirked weakly at her brown haired adversary. "N-ngh-Nice Fi-urk-fight."

Rei grinned back feebly. "Same to-ugh-you."

With a soft laugh, they both fell back, their claws gushing out of each others stomachs. As the adrenalin began to ebb, pain flooded Taru's system. She coughed, feeling blood pour onto her lips.

She heard the proctor speak to the audience. "Both combatants are incapacitated. This match is a draw."

She didn't hear anything else. Pain took over her senses. She felt someone trying to sooth it with healing chakra, but it was too late.

Everything went black as she lost consciousness.


	24. Luck of the Draw

((So, end of the semester means a new chapter (somewhat short, but a chapter none-the-less). Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few more in the coming weeks. Luckily, this one concludes the prelims, so I'm not too worried about it. In fact, I've had a few ideas for scenes between the tests that sound good in my head. We'll see how they work.

It should also be noted that I went back and made some major changes to chapters 7 and 8 (or 8 and 9 if you count the prologue as a chapter). The basic result stayed the same, but I tried to make the plot a little more realistic. It's not necessary to go back and reread it, but it _is_ something new for you to read.

Disclaimer: I'm still in college. I don't have enough _time_ to own Naruto or any of the characters. That would have to be a full time thing…))

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**Luck of the Draw**

The board flared to life and shot off the next duo in bright green as most of the remaining people discussed the result of the previous fight, watching as both combatants were taken away on a stretcher. The elder Mist team really couldn't care less. They only cared about the next fight.

Tenshou Kizui vs. Onkyou Nami.

Nami's face drew itself into a feral grin. She'd had as much as she could stand of these childish matches and was itching for her turn. She'd show these Leaf nin how real ninja fought.

A firm grip on her shoulder brought her back to the moment. She turned and Hou Chiku's eyes met hers, "Focus." Nami merely brushed off his hand. She knew her task just as well as he did. What right did he have to command her? Steeling herself behind a frozen layer of indifference she set towards the main area. Behind her, their sensei simply smirked.

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Tounyo read the display board and pondered if there was a strong enough word to describe the situation at present. Fuck fit the best, but it just didn't seem to have the impact necessary. Up until Hitayio's match he'd held onto the slim hope that those two Kiri-nin would end up facing off against one another, or in lieu of that at least one of the senpai who were better equipped to deal with the dangerous duo. Who knows, _they_ might have a chance to survive.

But nooooo.

Of all the genin chosen to fight one of the two it had been his teammate; not just any teammate either, but the one that lacked the reasoning skills to turn down a staring contest with a plastic doll. Though Taru would have had just as much of a chance against those either of those two, _she'd_ scream for help if her life was in danger. Kizui would merely pester his foe for neglecting to target his vocal cords.

"Hey, Kizui," He leaned back to look past his sensei, "I don't think you should…" Only to be met with the sight of Kizui curled into a tiny ball. "Uh… Kizui? You ok there?" This was definitely new. Kizui was about as likely to back down from a challenge as to pass up a chance to make a dig at Tounyo's sexual orientation.

"…won't work," Tounyo barely managed to hear Kizui mumble. Perhaps that sound wave was still affecting him because there was no way his teammate was being that quiet. "Maybe…"

Then again, Kizui always did do the unexpected. "Are you ok there?" The young medic looked to his sensei for some help.

"hmm… maybe, but then."

"Is it because of who you're fighting?" Konohamaru supplied, catching on to Tounyo's discomfort with the situation. He moved to try and comfort the still curled up Kizui. "Because if you don't want to fight just say-" He was cut off mid sentence as the compacted teammate burst up with a spirited cheer. Still shell-shocked Tounyo could only watch in agape horror as Kizui made a mad dash for the railing and took it in sprawled leap. Konohamaru choked out a half-hearted laugh. "Well, I can't say I'm too surprised…"

Tounyo didn't hear him though. He was too busy riffling through his vocabulary for the perfect word. "Fuck is definitely not strong enough." He also missed the soft chuckle his sensei let out behind him.

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It had come down to the last two fights before his name had been called, and he'd make sure this match was well worth the wait. He'd show them some serious style or his name wasn't Kizui of the Tenshou clan, The Voyeuristic Viking! No… that won't work. Where the hell had he picked up that vocab anyways? And what exactly was Voyeuristic? Sounded sexy but there was a good chance Tounyo used it as an insult… Though Tounyo's insulting skills were questionable.

Was it possible for him to misuse such an awesome sounding word for an offense? Eh scratch the whole introduction idea. Maybe he should take a pose? Shan had done some kinda positioning before his…her… its fight. But would that be too much mimicry? But what other options did he have? It's not like there was much else you could do in this plain arena. Now, with some flaming hula-hoops and their heterosexual counterparts, and possibly a man eating liger that would on occasion indulge itself with a woman or two, he'd give the others a sight for sore eyes, good eyes, or any variation in between.

From between his fingers a duo of white ivory dropped to the ground with a silent clack. Lucky sevens. Figures his father's keepsake would encourage this form of tom-foolery. Quickly, the lanky teen pocketed the dice and leapt to his feet. He wasn't much of a planner, or thinker for that matter; he was a man of action.

With continued haste, he vaulted off the railing, passing a flabbergasted Tounyo and startled Konohamaru-sensei; he'd have to remember to get his fair share of digs in after his match. Tounyo must have spent way too much time hiding in the shadows or what not. He looked as pale as a ghost.

As his feet left solid standing and his hair started to whip around with the wind, he felt his mouth shift into a face splitting grin. Taru had mentioned how he always seemed to slip into a Cheshire grin whenever he managed to get himself in a fight and how it freaked her out a little bit; something to do with being a sadist or whatnot. It wasn't that he felt any different, just that he couldn't keep himself from drawing up a grin when he danced those little dances of death. So long as he could keep smiling he would keep fighting.

With his brief internal monolog taken care of, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand; mainly giving his audience something to remember him by, which would be happening sooner than he'd expected. What he'd thought would be a good long jump like the ones he'd seen at the cinema, was in fact a short second's worth of a drop that left him tumbling for a moment when he hit the ground before he found that his chin made for a rather effective brake.

When Kizui's body came to a rest a step away from the Uchiha's feet, the jonin managed a tight, "You ready?" while simultaneously giving his former teammate a rather piercing look. Naruto just smiled in a nostalgic way.

Without moving to stand Kizui flashed a bright grin jerked his head in an excited nod. Sasuke only hesitated a moment with a bewildered look at the grounded ninja before getting the Mist nin's affirmative as well.

"Hajime!"

At the drop of the hand, Kizui's legs whipped out to throw him into an awkward handstand where his legs continued on until they were extended towards his opponent and parallel to the ground. Two dark blurs shot out from the folds of his pants from a pair of hidden launchers he'd managed to get adjusted once he got to the tower. From his position Kizui managed to crane his neck around just in time to watch the kunai hurl straight for his opponent's motionless form.

Or what had been a motionless form. At the last moment Nami's form shifted just slight enough to allow the kunai to sail harmlessly within a breath's distance from her. With the same motion she managed an inhumanly long step to land her right beside Kizui's now defenseless standing. A low sweeping kick eradicated what balance Kizui had managed to hold onto. A second landed in his gut mid-air, finishing off with a palmed kunai aimed straight at his throat.

With neither time nor distance to ready himself, Kuzui found himself throwing as much chakra into his kekki-genkai as he could manage. This probably saved his life when the bladed edge sunk not into his neck, but deep into his cheek where it scratched off two of his molars before lodging itself to a section of gum on his upper jaw.

The force of the blows sent the now bloodied form bouncing a few times before skidding to a halt with a sickening screech as the lodged kunai drug against the firm ground.

Instantly the Uchiha was beside the Kiri-nin to prevent another spectacle like the one her teammate had caused. His hand rose to end the fight and hopefully get the young genin to the medics to inspect that head wound quickly. "Winner: On-" his voice cut off as he made a half-jump back to dodge a trio of shuriken that had shot out towards the standing participant.

Unlike the previous attack, Nami merely plucked two of the projectiles out of the air and allowed the third to clang uselessly at her feet when the momentum didn't carry it far enough. She cocked an eyebrow at the still bleeding form, still sitting where she'd knocked it with his arm out-stretched. "Not going down that easily?"

Kizui had to bite back the first three sentences that came to mind. If this Nami chick was anything like Taru she might not appreciate the 'going down on you' implication they entailed, instead he brought his hands up to remove his new facial accessory with a wet squench, followed by a tight, bloody grin.

Twisted laughter met his actions as Nami drew back with amusement. "And here I thought I'd gotten a quick finish to play with!" Her hand wrapped around an oddly shaped grey box as she pulled it from her pouch. She wasted nary a moment fiddling with several buttons, levers, and other contraptions on the device before chucking it behind her.

At the first clack the thing exploded in sound; several ninja noted that it resembled synthetic music, lacking both vocals and identifiable instruments but still held a certain rhythm and beat. With the introduction of music the Kiri-nin's entire being seemed to change, where before she'd stayed motionless until the moment before she struck and acted with cold precision, now her whole body was wrapped in the motion of dance all without ever moving her feet.

She waited for the young boy to make it to his feet so that she could take full pleasure in sending him back to the ground, but as the seconds rolled by he didn't make even the slightest allusion towards standing up.

"Are you going to fight me on your ass? Is that the kind of ninja Konoha breeds?" Her beguiling dance never ceased but one arm stuck out rebelliously with a finger posed at Kizui accusingly. "Do you have anything to excuse this pathetic display?"

Kizui's grin doubled in size, allowing for a portion of his gash to widen, his only reply being a soft, "Boom bitch." Coupled with the statement was a series of quiet poofs as the forgotten shuriken's unnoticed henge disappeared, revealing an exploding note plastered to each.

The result was spectacular, the small paper sutras released an earth-shattering boom that masked the music easily coupled with a rather nicely sized fireball right where Nami had stood. It didn't even phase Kizui when a small portion of the now scrapped shuriken lodged themselves into some of his exposed flesh as heated shrapnel. He'd gotten her good!

Or a log. Really the two were easy to get confused; tough outer shell protecting an equally tough inside and almost identical facial emotional ranges. Though, to be fair, Nami had one thing that outshined the log, and that was a spectacular view no matter what way you looked at her. This being twice as true when said view was mere inches away from one's face. Wait, inches?

Kizui only had a moment to spit out a quick "Ack!" before a well toned leg crashed with tremendous force against his face.

Managing to tumble out of the roll and steady himself on all fours Kizui received another such view only of a higher scene accompanied with a flash of red as Nami's kunai drew a crimson line along the length of his chest. And it continued in that fashion. Nami danced in and around Kizui's limited defense and dotted him with nicks and cuts just deep enough to protest when he moved but not enough to hamper any of the agility that Kizui proved rather apt at pulling off when he managed to leap back long enough to send a barrage of anything he had on him.

With each inflicted wound, Nami's moves only got faster and Kizui was forced to rely more and more on his bloodline. Sunbyou Kizui, his clan's shining feature, which he had proudly taken his name from. So far his luck had paid off, each use had so far either saved him from what would have been lethal blows, if the powdered ground was any indication, or allowed him to sneak in a counter assault to little effect. His efforts had earned him a slight scowl on Nami's nearly stoic face. Any move he made she would be ready for, counter, and press the attack. However, there were only so many times she could stand slipping between haphazardly thrown objects of varied nature. It didn't help that one accidentally thrown girly magazine found itself lodged between two mounds of flesh.

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It wasn't often that the head of the Uchiha clan found himself unable to do anything. He was, after all, an Uchiha. But this match left him particularly frustrated. The older Mist team were obviously stacked, the two participating 'genin' had so far displayed an excessive level of skill that was outside any possible level of expected competence for anyone outside the rank of special jonin.

The sound blade the first shinobi used required an unnerving level of chakra control to maintain and use. In addition, his swordsmanship skills were above what he had seen of any chuunin, much less a genin. Clearly, he was dedicated to his chosen abilities.

The kunoichi displayed a rather remarkable genjutsu that had a subtle effect to draw focus to various 'soft spots' and enhance the motions of her dance. This, coupled with the seal array on that music device, suppressed the feather light caress that those familiar with identifying genjutsu could usually pick up.

The implications of these observations were hardly settling. Either the Mist village put this team in to falsely advertise their prowess, which didn't hold up well with the fact that there was a second Mist team that lacked the same level of edge, or, more sinisterly, this team had a mission that needed to be taken care of within Konoha without following the regular procedure for entry.

More troubling was the division between the two teams. Neither sought to stick together as a united front, nor did either of the jonin-sensei show any signs of recognizing each other. This could be due to the fact that there may be less contact between teams outside of missions as there was in Konoha, but this bit of intel pointed towards more nefarious deeds on the older team's part.

Another blow to the young Tenshou separated the two and Sasuke moved to 'assess' the damage and finally end this exhibition match. Before he could say anything Kizui's arms released a barrage of green tinted senbon at his attacker, denying Sasuke the 'unable to continue' option. Not a stone's throw away, the patron Uchiha watched as a fellow Leaf nin was torn, shredded, and maimed, yet he couldn't do a damned thing. Long suppressed memories of a similar helplessness drifted right beneath the surface of his mind. "This time I'm ready" he mumbled to himself, ever tense to send that damned fool of a genin to the waiting medic nins.

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Another slash severed the thick cord holding his final keepsake of his father's death, the senbon umbrella clattered uselessly on the ground as the ever persistent kunoichi pressed onward with flashing blades of red. _"This is going down faster than Tounyo in the red lantern district…"_ Kizui found himself thinking, catching a slight giggle in his throat that rewarded him with two more imbedded kunai in his thighs. Kami, this woman knew how to scare a guy shitless…

'That's it!' His eyes sparkled with unrestrained glee. From his vast array of plots, tricks, and ideas the lanky boy pulled at one particularly devious choice that he had just finished researching. The provisional parameters to pull it off were sketchy, and he hadn't quite gotten around to testing it yet, but it would have to do.

Quickly gauging his remaining chakra he found that he had just enough for two minutes worth of the Sunbyou Kizui before he reached a dangerous level. He had to time this just right.

His moment came when Nami went for an over extended thrust at his shoulder, confident that it would succeed. The fact that it did was hardly surprising. However, when the fool of a genin caught her arm and pulled himself forward suddenly past her guard, it blew her mind.

So far, he'd stuck to ranged assaults and barrages. In fact, the only indication that he even knew taijutsu was his remarkable ability to bounce back after a flurry of blows. This time however he managed to land a light tap just above her hips off to one side, though the blow was as unremarkable as his prior performance his quiet whisper sent shivers down her back.

"Unko Renga no Jutsu" (Shit Bricks Technique).

Nami's eyes went wide as she felt her bowels release. She felt her pants become wet with a gooey liquid. Then, she felt the rage boil up within her.

How dare this little bastard do such an embarrassing technique on her!? And to actually manage to get it off! He would receive payback in multiple spades.

Before he could even fully pull back from his attack, Nami had already begun, no longer caring about whether she showed her full strength.

In a blur that no genin could possibly see, she drew a kunai and thrust it into her opponent's stomach. She followed up by bringing a kick up to his chin as he began to curl in on his injury. Before he could even get six inches into the air, a remarkable feat, considering the force behind the blow, she had rotated around into a back-handed punch. Kizui went flying into the wall, cracking it. She was in front of him an instant later, a kunai rushing at his face, ready to truly kill him this time-

-Only to be jerked to a halt a few centimeters short.

Nami snarled sideways at Sasuke, furious that he had stopped her vengeance. But she knew better than to lash out at him.

With a violent hiss, she back off and started toward the infirmary, intent on changing her soiled clothes. "Tell the bastard when he wakes up that if he ever gets within 50 yards of me again, he's a dead man."

The Uchiha only glared at her back as medics came in to pick up the unconscious Konoha genin. With reluctance, he turned toward the crowd. "Winner: Onkyou Nami."

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As soon as the announcement was made, Tounyo was beside his teammate, assessing damage and clotting what wounds he could. He had fallen face first on the arena floor, body completely limp. Not a second later, the medics were there with a stretcher, shoving Tounyo out of the way and lifting Kizui onto the stretcher to be taken away.

Tounyo started after them, only to be brought up short by a hand on his shoulder. "Don't go after them, Tounyo-kun."

The boy turned to his sensei. "But I'm a medic! I could help!"

"You're a genin with only minor training in medical jutsu. You'll only get in the way of his treatment."

Gritting his teeth, Tounyo nodded his ascent. He hated being helpless.

"Now, if I know you," continued Konohamaru-sensei, "You'll want to stay here and watch the next fight to keep your mind off your uselessness." Tounyo only nodded. "You do that. I'll follow Kizui, Taru, and Hana, see how they're all doing. I'm sure they'll be just fine."

Tounyo let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, sensei."

Without another word, he started back toward the balcony, his teacher no doubt heading to the infirmary.

On his way up the stairs, Tounyo passed Rokuden. With a start, he realized that Rokuden and the remaining younger Mist nin were the only two left and that the Nara's foe was already at the center of the arena waiting impatiently for him. Tounyo muttered a, "Good luck," to his fellow Leaf nin, who nodded his acceptance.

Tounyo only really hoped that the fight would be entertaining enough to distract him from Kizui's situation.


	25. The Nara's Brain

((Alright, week two of summer, chapter two of the story.

Disclaimer: I'm still in college. I don't have enough _time_ to own Naruto or any of the characters. That would have to be a full time thing…

Enough of my blabbing. Onward!))

**The Nara's Brain**

Rokuden stared across at his opponent with a bored expression. "This is so troublesome," he muttered irritably. A flash of Taru's fight came to mind, both combatants showing remarkable speed and tenacity, and he sighed. "But I can't let myself be outdone." After all, he would look bad if he got defeated and Taru managed to tie in such a vicious fight.

His foe, Manriki Toukan of the Mist, grinned predatorily at him. The Nara rolled his eyes. Another arrogant bastard. They were always more effort than they were worth.

But there wasn't much he could do about it. It had already been decided that they would be fighting each other.

Beside him, the proctor shifted. "You both ready?"

Toukan continued grinning. "Ready and willing."

"Let's just get it over with…"

"Hajime!"

Rokuden's adversary hopped back, starting a jutsu. Resigned, the Nara pulled out a few shuriken and tossed them, intending to interrupt his foe. He just needed to observe the Mist nin for a minute or so, then, he could formulate a workable plan. As it was, he could only go from rough generalities.

Toucan twisted, avoiding the thrown weapons without even pausing in his hand signs. Rokuden tensed subtly, preparing to evade as his foe concluded his jutsu.

"Suiton: Supaiku Koori no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Ice Spike Jutsu)

The black haired genin heard the wall crack and spun, ready to dodge. To his surprise, the ice spike only protruded a few inches through the wall and was wider than it was long.

Doing some quick calculation, Rokuden realized what the Mist nin was trying to do and cursed. There must be a second water vein running around the room, going to the nearby guest rooms, which had been in use by the examinees. In this fight, it only provided more water for his foe to freeze.

And the pineapple haired genin knew it.

He saw water start to leak around the ice.

He groaned, realizing that it would be pointless to try to stop it because Toukan would simply create a new one. "So troublesome…"

In a burst, water flooded the room for the second time in less than four matches, throwing the broad ice spike across the room. Rokuden hopped to the side, evading it.

"You're dead now!" The Nara glanced at his foe, rolling his eyes at the maniacal grin he found there. This was going to be _so_ troublesome.

He jumped back against the wall, planning to have his shadow travel along it to hide it. Both he and his adversary began hand seals at the same time.

Rokuden finished his jutsu first. He sent his shadow out, just above the quickly rising water line. As it approached Toukan, it jumped to the ground below the clear water, traveling at a reduced rate due to the light distortion caused by the liquid.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that the Kiri nin concluded his seals. "Suiton: Supaiku Gajidai no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Glacial Spike Jutsu)

"Troublesome," murmured Rokuden, cancelling his shadow possession. His eyes widened as a spike of ice shot up from beneath him.

Not good!

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Ino stared anxiously at her son as water flooded the floor. She glanced at her husband. He stood beside her, face impassive.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Shikamaru looked at her. "He's better trained than either of us were during our first exam."

Ino glared at him. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Shikamaru turned back to the arena, avoiding his wife's gaze. "His opponent is ruthless. I have no doubt he would kill Rokuden if he could. He won't be holding back. I don't know if Rokuden has that kind of mentality yet."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Is that all your worried about?"

The pineapple haired jounin gave her a skeptical look. "If he's willing to kill, he should have no problem. I didn't think her was yet."

Ino grinned. "Then, he'll be just fine."

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Toukan grinned maniacally as he activated his Suiton: Supaiku Gajidai no Jutsu. (Water Release: Glacial Spike Jutsu) The Nara had finished his jutsu first, but apparently it hadn't worked because nothing had happened. Now, it was over. There was no way he could dodge this jutsu.

Focusing, Toukan created the first spike directly beneath his foe. His grin grew when he saw it pierce between the legs, right where it hurts.

It changed into a scowl when Rokuden turned into a shuriken. A substitution.

The Mist nin spun on the location of the two thrown weapons this match. He found his black haired adversary on the right and immediately focused the next spike there.

Before the ice even struck him, Rokuden had become a shuriken again. Scowling, Toukan forced more chakra into the jutsu so that the deadly spires formed faster, creating them at the two possible shuriken positions at the same time. Then, just to be sure, he created more stalagmites behind those everywhere that he couldn't see before moving on to the rest of the arena floor, filling it ten feet high with weaponry for him to use.

Toukan jumped to the top of one of his ice spikes. He started more hand signs, grinning once more. This jutsu would make sure his opponent was not only defeated but dead. He couldn't wait to see the anguish on the faces of those that cared about him.

Suddenly, his body stopped. He tried to force out the remaining seals, but his body refused. Instead, it brought his hands together into a foreign sign. He snarled angrily. "What's going on!?"

"Game over, Ice Faerie."

Toukan tried to turn around at his enemy's voice, but his body fought against him. It turned his head slowly, just enough to see the shadow running down the back of the ice spike, connecting him to Rokuden, who was in the same position as him.

The Nara smirked when the Kiri genin scowled at him. "You certainly made things easy enough to plan."

"You planned for all this to happen?! Impossible!" demanded the feminine looking Mist shinobi in disbelief.

The Leaf nin smirked. "This exact scenario? I agree, impossible. Circumstances where you used an ice jutsu with a high percent chance of hitting me that would obscure view of the arena? That I could foresee and plan for. Why else would I have thrown those shuriken at the beginning?"

As he spoke, he knelt down, dropping his hand so that his foe grasped the tip of the spire, and he had his hand fisted a few inches above the ground.

Toucan hissed. "Bastard! How did you dodge my glaciers?!"

The black haired teen chuckled. "That second substitution wasn't a Kawarimi. I transformed into a shuriken and used chakra to cling to the backside of the spike. But it doesn't matter now." He lowered his other hand to rest below his first one, his opponent grabbing the ice farther down. "I'm going to lift my legs off the ground. Then, when I spread my arms, I will fall a few inches, whereas you will drop onto the point of your own attack with just enough force for it to penetrate your heart."

The Mist nin struggled with renewed vigor at this.

Rokuden smirked, knowing that there was no way for him to get out of this. "You have until I count to five to surrender." He lifted his legs off the ground, focusing chakra into his arms to give him added strength, just to make sure. "One."

Toukan tried to move but still couldn't.

"Two."

He grunted in his effort.

"Three."

He forced his full will into breaking free. He did _not_ want to die.

"Four."

"Graaaaah!"

"Fi-"

A hand fell on Rokuden's shoulder. "You can stop now. You've proven your victory." He looked up at the proctor, releasing his shadow possession. The jounin turned to the audience. "Winner of this match: Nara Rokudenashi."

Toukan stood up on his ice spike, fury welling up within him. That son of a bitch had beaten and humiliated him. He wouldn't get away with it. He would regret not finishing him off.

He leapt at the Leaf genin, kunai poised for a fatal blow. The boy was looking toward the Hokage and the other proctors, away from him. Toukan's face twisted into a sadistic smile. The bastard would get what he deserved.

Still feet from his target, he felt something grasp his wrist and twist it, shifting his momentum into a nearby ice spike. He rammed into the side of it, grunting. His arm was lifted behind him to the point on the edge of pain.

"The fight's over, runt," the proctor's voice sounded next to his ear. "You don't want to threaten the other contestants any farther."

"You can let my student go, Uchiha-san." Toukan turned his head to find Subaya-sensei with his arms crossed. Slowly, Sasuke lessened his grip until he released the feminine boy. The genin spun, jumping back to stand next to his teacher.

He glared at Rokuden's back as the two jounin stared tensely at each other. "My student won't attack any other examinees. You have my word."

The Uchiha glowered. "Make sure he doesn't. He won't get off so lightly next time."

Subaya-sensei nodded as the Hokage called all the winners to the front. Before the old man could turn him around to start walking off, he called out. "We'll fight again, Nara-_san_, and next time, it won't end the same!" He allowed himself to be led away with an evil grin on his face.

He missed his sensei's grimace in his amusement.

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Taru sat staring at the wall motionlessly. It would have been nice if she could have moved without feeling waves of pain or, better, if she had something a little more entertaining than a white wall to stare at.

Someone beside her moaned. Taru rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Rei. I'm in just as much pain as you."

She could feel the other cat-nin's glare on her. "I don't see how you can sit still for so long. It's so boring!"

Taru started to chuckled, only for it to come out as a cough.

"You alright over there?"

The blonde sighed in an effort to calm her hacking body. "Are you?" she responded with a slight smirk.

Rei brought up a hand, wincing at the pain. "Touché."

They were silent for a while before Taru decided to return to the original question. "I suppose staring at something, just thinking, helps me calm down, relieve stress."

She caught the disbelieving look Rei sent her way. "You're crazy." The brown haired kunoichi shook her head. "Thinking makes it worse for me. I need a nap or a ball of yarn or some catnip."

Taru smiled slightly at that. She replied as the doctor walked in. "Those are just distractions for me. Thinking allows me to understand the problem and come to the best conclusion."

Rei shook her head again, temporarily ignoring the medic changing out her bandages. "If you say so."

As soon as she noticed the silence, the female medic spoke. "How are we feeling?"

The brunette scowled. "In pain."

The medic frowned. "Right. Want me to up your morphine dose?"

The genin shook her head. "No, no. I'll be fine. Really."

The healer giggled, finishing up on the girl's bandages. Then, she looked across at Taru. "What about you?"

The blonde moved her eyes slightly to watch the woman approach. "I'm fine as long as I don't move."

The medic nin raised an eyebrow, already checking the girl's injuries. "Do you want more meds then?"

"If it's not too much of a pain."

The chuunin medic smiled at her. "You're lucky we stocked up specifically for the exams."

Taru smiled back. "Good thing."

Their attention was pulled back to Rei as she spoke. "You wouldn't happen to know about any of the other examinees, would you?"

The medic smiled again. "I know a little about each recent patient. Which would you like to know about?"

"Hah-kah Hitayio."

"Hitayio-san got out of surgery a few minutes ago. They managed to stop the bleeding and there doesn't seem to be any other major problems, so he should be alright. Perfectly so, given a few weeks of rest."

Rei let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good."

That brought Taru's thoughts back to the fights. "What happened since we left?"

"As far as I know, the last fight was just finishing."

"So there's been two fights since we were brought in. do you know who Kizui-kun fought?"

The medic frowned. "I think he was the one that fought Nami-san, the older Mist kunoichi." This brought the younger girl's gaze away from the white wall, eyes worried.

"Crap. Is he going to be okay?"

The healer met Taru's eyes with an unsure look. "I don't know yet. I haven't checked since he was taken into the ER."

The genin groaned, in both pain and sorrow. "What a pain."

"You'll know how he is as soon as I do."

The blonde looked back at the white wall, trying to relax and failing. "Arigatou."

The medic nodded, adjusted a few buttons on the nearby medical machines, and then left to check on the boy.

There was an awkward silence when the two girls were left alone.

If Kizui had fought the young woman and she had strength anywhere near her teammate's, he wouldn't have stood a chance, even with his ability active. She knew that. Tounyo, no doubt, knew that. Kizui should've known that.

She sighed. Why did he always have to be such an idiot?

"I'm sure he'll be alright."

Taru half-smiled at Rei's voice. "Yeah…"

And if his opponent had been as skilled as she though the teen was, he probably would be. He just had such unusual luck.

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"Here's the first payment, up front," said Hason, handing a small bag of money to a brawny bald man.

The man grinned. "I'm surprised you actually have this much. This'll be the best paying job we've taken in months! And we even get to raid the village itself!" The man laughed deeply.

The ninja beside him smirked. "Indeed. I want you to attack in exactly one month when the sun is at its peak. We should be ready to assist by then."

The bald man continued his insane grin. "Good. Good. With your help, the village will be ripe for the picking."

Hason smiled. "I look forward to the day we fight side by side."

The man nodded. "One month. We'll be there."

The black haired shinobi smirked as he walked out of the tent. That should make things a lot more interesting.

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Tsunade shook her head in mild disgust as the victors gathered in front of her, only one of which was unable to make it back from the infirmary in time. "I can't believe there were so many injuries in these prelims…" she muttered.

Beside her, Naruto shrugged. "Tensions are high among the foreign nations, though no one seems willing to go to war yet."

The Hokage stared at him. "I didn't realize you had picked up on that."

The blond jounin chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, if I act nervous about it, everyone else in the meetings will be tense, so I goof off a bit."

"A bit?" the Godaime whispered, raising an eyebrow, turning to the gathered genin before he could respond. "Congratulations, all of you, on making it to the third test of the chuunin exams. This part will be seen by everybody, which means that we need some time to prepare and gather all of the representatives. Take this time to prepare yourselves to the best of your abilities. It is in the best interests of both yourselves and your home countries to fight with all you have, to show your strength to the world. Now, any questions?"

A few hands went up.

"Any questions that can't be handled by your jounin sensei?"

All of the hands went down.

"Okay then. I shall see you all in one month's time. Until then, good luck."

There was a small clamor as the group around her slowly dispersed. The Hokage turned toward Naruto, already opening her mouth to speak. He wasn't there.

She spun around, looking for him. How did he always know when to disappear to avoid work? Maybe she should put a bell around his neck to help keep track of him. When she heard his voice a few feet away, she realized that that was almost as good as one.

"Could you teach me that Creepy Echo no Jutsu you used? Please, please, please!?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, striding over to where he was begging the youngest victorious Mist nin.

The boy was currently staring at the blonde in shock. "Wha-Bu-I can't-I wouldn't-No!"

Naruto pouted childishly. "But it was so cool and has so much _potential_! Do you even know where you could use that _outside_ of battle?!"

The blue haired genin finally seemed to get a hold of himself. "Okay then, what would _I_ get out of teaching it to you?"

The blonde shrugged. "I could teach you something back? Wanna learn how to throw a million shuriken by only throwing one?"

The Kiri nin looked confused now. "But how-?"

Just as Tsunade reached him, another voice interrupted. "That's quite alright, Naruto-san." The child's sensei stepped up beside the boy. "Despite your astounding reputation, I think it might be best if my grandson trained with me on the family jutsu. And I don't think we plan on letting one of those jutsu into another ninja's hands."

Naruto groaned, muttering something about "ruining all my fun." The Godaime put a hand on his shoulder consolingly. "That's probably for the best, Naruto. I have someone I'd like you to train anyway." She spoke to the Mist pair before leading the younger blonde off, saying, "You're welcome to any of Konoha's training grounds so long as no one is on it when you get there."

They muttered a brief "Arigatou," as they went on their way.

"So who was it that you wanted me to teach, Tsunade-baa-chan?"

Resisting the urge to pound his head into the ground at the persistent nickname, she explained. "A rookie that I think could benefit from your _unique_ view of the world."

The jinchuuriki looked slightly lost. "Won't his teacher be a little annoyed that someone else is training them?" he asked, thinking of the sensei from a few minutes back.

Tsunade grinned. "After he hears my idea, I think he'll be more than willing to jump on board."

Naruto blinked at her before shrugging and just deciding to go with it.

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((So, now that I've finished the prelims and introduced everyone, I was wondering what some of you readers thought of as possible pairings. I've clearly already opened up a few, but I wanted to know what the audience thought about things before deciding who goes with who. I'm especially interested in the thoughts of those that reviewed with characters. Just leave a review or send me an email with your opinions. I promise to take into account as many as I can.))


	26. Post Prelims

**Post-Prelims**

Hinashin stared as her father was led off by the Hokage, overhearing that he would be training someone else during the month between exams. She scowled in annoyance. There went her first choice of trainers.

Around the room she heard genin talking to their sensei, planning the coming month. She approached her own sensei, Tenten, that very topic in mind.

She found her speaking to Rokuden, who seemed less than enthralled by the conversation. "You _will_ meet me tomorrow morning at eight a.m. sharp. I'll put you to the grindstone in this month in order to make you fighting fit."

Hinashin groaned, causing her teacher to turn around. "What's wrong, Hinashin-chan?"

"I was hoping you would train _me_," she bemoaned weakly.

Tenten frowned one of her placating frowns at her. "I'm sorry, Hinashin-chan, but you know how Rokuden-kun and his father are. If I don't train him, he won't get anything accomplished at all."

Hinashin sighed, nodding. "Hai, hai." Dejectedly, she spun around and started toward the exit. There went two of her favorite teachers. Now, what was she supposed to do? She couldn't very well train herself, could she?

She scowled as she headed in the direction of her home. At least she could still ask her mother. She clenched her fist in determination. Who needed those lame-brains anyway? Her mother could teach her more about the Jyuuken style. That was way more fun! If only Hinata wasn't always so busy leading the Hyuuga clan.

Besides, if she got really desperate, she could probably bug someone else into training her _something_. Konohamaru-Jii-chan didn't have anyone from his team advance did he? Maybe she could convince him to train her some.

Hinashin grinned a fox grin that was inherited from her father. Things weren't so bad after all.

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Tounyo glared at the emergency room door out of the corner of his eye as he paced on the opposite side of the wall. Kizui had been in there a while now, and the red caution light had yet to go out. Clearly his injuries were serious.

He glared at the doors again as if they had insulted him. Why couldn't they let another medic in, even if only to watch?

Of course, he knew the answer to that. Someone as inexperienced as him would just get in the way. Even if he was just watching, the doctors would be walking around so much that he would be in someone's way at some point. Better to let the professionals handle it without the distraction.

That didn't make him any less anxious though.

His breath caught as the light above the door switched to green with a slight 'ping'. That meant one of two things: either he was stable or he wasn't on this world any more.

He held his breath as he waited for a medic to come out and tell him the results.

A minute later, four medic nin walked out, all looking fairly exhausted. He heard a "Good job, everyone," and let out a sigh of relief. That was usually a good sign.

He watched as one of the doctors split off from the rest and approached him, her short black haired frazzled by the effort put into the healing. He gasped when he recognized her. Shizune! She was practically head of the hospital!

She smiled weakly down at him. "I'm assuming you're his teammate."

He nodded at her implied question. "Emerarudo Tounyo."

Shizune blinked in confusion a moment before shaking her head. "Well, I think he told me to tell you that he loves you."

The genin stared at her before bringing his hand up to his forehead. "I can't believe he made a joke while his life was on the line…"

"Actually, I don't think his life was ever in danger. Somehow, his vitals all continued working, even through all the damage he took."

Tounyo raised an eyebrow. "And what are the chances of that happening?"

"With the damage he took, I've never seen it before, so likely just above zero."

"His kekkei genkai makes things that are unlikely to happen, much more likely."

Shizune cocked her head to the side. "That would make more sense…And it might explain why he didn't respond to many of the restorative seals we tried to use on him. We ended up using a group medical jutsu instead of the normal seals to heal him."

"But he'll come out of this just fine, right?"

The dark haired woman smiled. "He'll make a full recovery. Just needs a few weeks to do so."

Tounyo smiled back and bowed. "Arigatou, Shizune-sama."

Shizune nodded and turned to walk off, probably to rest up after the grueling procedure. Tounyo grinned, starting toward Taru's room. Konohamaru-sensei was already there checking on her. He needed to tell both of them the good news!

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The morning after the preliminary rounds, as soon as he got released from the infirmary, Hari darted toward the hot spring. He knew he'd find the old pervert peeping on one of them if he searched the surrounding areas. He needed something very important from the old man, and it wasn't the next Icha Icha. Shocking, he knew.

He found Jirayia perched in a tree overlooking one of the newer onsens, one that no doubt didn't know to keep an eye out for him. Hari hopped up next to the toad sennin, ignoring the perverted giggles he heard.

He got up next to the white maned ninja, waiting until he opened the eye that wasn't glued to the scope.

"What's up, kid?" Jiraiya asked quietly, trying to make sure his victim-er-models didn't hear him.

"Could we talk somewhere less provocative, Jiraiya-dono? I want you to be giving me your full attention."

The sannin raised an eyebrow, lowering the scope in his hand. Frankly, the boy was _so_ lucky Jiraiya thought so highly of him, or he wouldn't have even considered it. Of course, he didn't want the boy to know that, so instead, he said, "You're lucky there's only one hot one in there right now. Where did you want to go?"

Hari grinned up at him. "Follow me." He hopped down and darted off, sure that the old man was following him.

A short trip later, he stopped in the middle of a training field just as the sun was hitting the height of its climb. He turned to see Jiraiya at the edge of the clearing.

"Is it clear enough what I want now?"

The toad sennin frowned. "The second test of the chuunin exams ended yesterday, didn't it?" Hari nodded. Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm too old to train ya, kid. Don't you have a sensei or something?"

The genin sighed. "Yeah, but he had two students make it through. He'll either train us both equally or not train either of us at all. Either way, I'm down a sensei at least half the time."

The pair were silent for a while as Jiraiya tried to think of another way out of training the kid. Eventually, he asked, "You don't have anyone else to go to?" Hari shook his head. The sannin sighed. "Maybe I can convince Naruto to train you for me," he murmured under his breath, not really expecting the boy to even hear.

"Naruto-sama has another examinee that Hokage-sama wanted him to train. I don't know who, but I know Tsunade-sama thinks he'll make a big difference with him."

Jiraiya groaned. "And what do I get out of this deal? I'll be losing valuable research time for this."

Hari thought about it. In the end, he came up with only one solution that he thought might get the legendary sannin to train him with true intent to make him stronger. "If you can get me to chuunin level by the time of the third exam, I'll take over writing Icha Icha when you kick the bucket."

Jiraiya's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing seriously. "It's not that simple, kid. I've got years of experience put into the writing of these things, not to mention all the research I do and tons of technical know-how."

"Well then, you can teach me," Hari replied simply.

The old man scoffed. "It's an art that will take years to master. Are you sure you want to do this?"

The boy grinned. "Of course I'm sure. I would've asked you to pass on your authoring skills to me once I caught up on the current books anyway. This way, I'll be a little ahead of schedule."

Jiraiya gaped at him, streams of tears beginning to fall from his eyes. In a flash, he was beside the genin, an arm wrapped around his shoulder like a father would his son. "I've never been so proud of a boy my entire life. Of course I'll train you. I'll train you in everything I know down to the very art of living!"

Hari gave a "V" for victory sign to no one in particular and turned, grinning up at his new sensei. "So what are we going to work on first?"

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. Meet me at the river, a mile north of Konohagakure, tomorrow morning. I'll tell you all about it then. In the meantime, I have a month's worth of research to do in one afternoon." With a brief wave, Jiraiya vanished in a Shunshin, leaving Hari to his own devices.

The masked boy scowled. Oh well. He thought Shino-sensei may want to meet later tonight anyway. May as well go check on it until his training began.

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Hotaru fidgeted as she walked up to the ramen stand where she was to meet her new sensei. She was more nervous about this than she had been the day she had met Kiba-sensei. At least then she had had Rei and Hitayio with her. This time, she was completely alone.

And she was meeting this teacher by order of the _Hokage_. The genin didn't know what the Godaime had in mind, but there must have been a reason for it. That only made her even more anxious.

Kiba-sensei had clearly been reluctant to give her training over to someone else, but, in her opinion, it seemed more out of a concern for his own standing as her sensei than concern for her well-being. Hopefully, this meant that whoever it was wouldn't put her through too strenuous a regiment.

Hotaru paused outside the flap entrance to the ramen stall. So much could go wrong with this new sensei that she considered turning around and walking home, or maybe to Kiba-sensei's house so that he could teach her.

No. She could do this. It was by order of the Hokage anyway. She must have seen some sort of potential in this relationship.

She took a deep, calming breath and pushed the flaps aside.

"Ohayo!" She looked up at the blond man that had spoken as he grinned across at her. "Hotaru-chan, I presume."

The purple haired girl blushed, nodding. The man just continued with that ridiculous grin, motioning for her to sit next to him.

"Welcome to the best ramen stand in the world!" he pronounced, making the young woman behind the bar smirk.

"You're too kind, Naruto!"

"Hey, the best ramen stand deserves to be known as the best, and I refuse to give it anything less!" He glanced at Hotaru as she sat down next to him, smiling slightly.

The festive attitude this new sensei held had calmed her somewhat. At least, she knew he wouldn't be one of those overly strict teachers with such high expectations that no one could meet them. Hopefully, he wouldn't put her through too much.

The blond jounin finished another bowl of ramen and placed it on top of the stack on his other side. The girl's eyes widened when she caught sight of the nine empty bowls. Who was this guy?!

As if reading her mind, the jounin told her, "Name's Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage and greatest ramen lover to ever live!" Against all reason, Hotaru's eyes widened yet again at the announcement, wider than she had even thought possible. She was being trained by _the_ Uzumaki Naruto?! How?! Why?! She didn't have any reason to be associated with a legend! And by order of the Hokage, no less!

Yet, here he was, right in front of her. He certainly looked like the descriptions of the amazing ninja she had received, though a little thinner than she had expected. With the way he had been described, Hotaru had expected a powerhouse!

No. He couldn't be _the_ Naruto, could he? What reason was there for him to be training her?! But that did explain why Kiba-sensei had refused to tell her who it would be. He wouldn't want her becoming too apprehensive or thrilled about meeting such a man. It would also explain why he and Tsunade had made sure that no one else could overhear their conversation.

"Want a bowl of ramen before we get started?" The question brought her back to reality. She blinked, realizing that she was staring at him. She blushed profusely, turning away, mumbling an apology. She hadn't thought she had said it loud enough for him to hear, but he laughed anyway. "Don't worry about it. But I must admit that you'll probably be hungry by the time I'm through with you tonight. Would you like to have a bowl of ramen to carry you over til then? It'll be on me."

Hotaru shook her head meekly. If she ate now, it would come back while she was training. That wasn't something she wanted.

Naruto just shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, starting on a tenth bowl as it was placed in front of him, shoveling down the food. She stared at him, in awe of…well, him. She was going to be trained by a legend! And how on earth could he eat so much, so quickly, and then expect to go teach her? She shook her head, looking down at her hands. At the rate the jounin was devouring his ramen, it wouldn't be long before he was training her.

She tensed up at the thought. What would he do to teach her? How would he teach her? She felt herself growing anxious once more.

"Just let me pay, and we can get started with the training." The voice brought her eyes to her new sensei. He pulled a pink wallet with red flower patterns on it out of his weapons pouch and withdrew enough money to pay for his meal. Hey, that wallet looked a lot like hers…

Her hand darted into her weapon pouch. Her wallet wasn't there. She turned to fully face Naruto for the first time, instantly lunging across to grab the wallet. He hopped off the stool and was at the entrance flap in a moment, leaving her to fall onto the stool foolishly. She pushed herself up in less than a second, turning on him.

"Hey! That's mine!"

He merely grinned at her. "You can have it back if you catch me."

Hotaru scowled at him, an emotion clearly not meant for her cute face. Naruto just chuckled and walked out. The genin was after him in less than a second.

Behind the bar of Ichiraku's, Ayame rolled her eyes, picking up the money. "Typical Naruto."

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Katame stood leaning against a tree at the team gathering place, waiting patiently as the sun set behind the trees. She had shown up more than twenty minutes before the meeting time, early even by her standards. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to train after just getting out of the hospital for chakra exhaustion, and her parents had insisted that she lay down and rest until she was fully recovered.

They didn't seem to realize how important it was for her to train as much as possible before the third exam. She had seen how some of the others had fought. They were much stronger than she had thought possible for a mere genin, even some of the Leaf ninja that were only a year older than her.

Of course, training didn't _have_ to be strenuous, so she _could_ do it. She would just have to train her genjutsu and tactical skills. She had been hoping to test them against Shino-sensei, but he had said he had a surprise for her.

So, she waited quietly for the meeting time.

Shino-sensei showed up five minutes early, hopping down from the trees he had been traveling through.

"Sensei." She nodded in greeting.

"Katame," he replied similarly.

"It has been recommended that I abstain from vigorous physical activity for a day or two while my chakra recharges. I thought it would be a good idea to work on my military mindset in the meantime." Her voice remained stoic as she made that statement.

"I must apologize, Katame," said Shino in his deep monotone, "But I cannot train both you and Hari for the next exam, and it would be unreasonable for me to train only one of you. It would seem that Hari has already found a suitable sensei. I, thus, took the opportunity to look for one that would teach you effectively."

Katame looked past him as he turned, drawing attention to an approaching kunoichi. Her purple hair was pulled back with a small amount left to freely frame her face. She wore a trench coat, much like Katame's other sensei, which she left open, revealing fishnet and an extremely short skirt.

Katame raised an eyebrow.

The woman smirked down at her, hands on her hips. "Hello, brat."

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((Wow. By some miracle, I managed to finish this chapter less than four days after I finished the last one. Of course, I still had to send it to my editor, so… Anyway, it's on time, so be happy for that. I would appreciate a review. Thanks!))


	27. Recovering

(I must apologize in advance because I know next week's chapter is going to be late. I am having an oral surgery on Monday. As such, I will probably be under meds for the better part of the week and in no mindset to write. I'll try to update the week after next and proceed from there.

To the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, and I make no money from this work. This, unfortunately, leaves me to a life of poverty in which I live off of the wonderful funding of a full ride scholarship. Yay!)

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**Recovering**

Bangai Hason walked casually through the front gates of Konohagakure among the small group of noon-time traffic going by. He had left his hitai-ate in his pocket and had taken off his black vest in an effort to look slightly less recognizable. Unfortunately, it seemed his long black hair had given him away because he heard a shout from the nearby guard stand and could just tell that it was directed at him.

When the guard with hair that vaguely resembled his, smooth and black, though only down to his shoulders, approached him, he knew he hadn't been quite subtle enough. Oh well…

"You told us that you'd only be gone for a half an hour," the guard stated dispassionately, boring into him with his strange white eyes.

Knowing what those eyes were capable of, Hason took extra care not to make any slight movements that could indicate a lie. He brought his hand up to scratch just behind his ear in an embarrassed gesture, closing his own eyes. "Er…I kind of laid down to watch the clouds go by and accidentally fell asleep. You must understand that I had just come from the second exam in the chuunin examinations and was exhausted."

The guard stood there a long moment, seeming to look him over. Hason just continued to look up innocently throughout the scrutiny.

The Hyuuga eventually nodded. "Very well, but the Hokage has requested we not let anyone that still has teammates in the exam out of the village, so you will not be able to leave again until the Hokage tells us so."

The genin grinned. "Of course. Wouldn't want the exam results leaking out early, now would we?"

The guard just raised an eyebrow and walked back to his post.

Hason walked around a nearby corner and smirked. It didn't matter if they wouldn't let him out again. He had already accomplished all that he needed to. While all of their strongest ninja were distracted by the chuunin exams, he had set up everything. In one month, he and his team would strike and rid Konoha of its most powerful shinobi. How could they not? The plan was fool-proof.

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Hyuuga Misami stopped next to his partner on guard duty and spun around. They both pretended to go on about their usual duties of checking off people who entered the village.

But as soon as the Kiri shinobi had turned the corner, Misami spoke. "It was him, Kakusu-san. Go warn Hokage-sama and Naruto-sama. I can take care of the work here."

The red-eyed chuunin next to him nodded soberly. After a short set of seals, he was gone in a flash of chakra smoke.

The Hyuuga sighed, activating his kekkei genkai to watch for intruders. Without the extra set of eyes, his advanced ones would have to make up for it. He would have liked to have gone to search for his superiors, but his duty here was just as important. Besides, the Sarutobi only had to find his uncle, Konohamaru, and finding Naruto would be easy anyway. This way was for the best.

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Hitayio stared down at his open hand, remorse heavy in his eyes. He sat in his hospital bed, the blinds drawn to only allow a small amount of light into the room. His side had been healed up as best they could, and it seemed the worst was the blood loss, the side-effects of which would disappear in a few days. Still, he couldn't help his sour mood.

He had been beaten, miserably, in front of everyone. He hadn't even gotten a single attack in, much less a hit. How was he supposed to show his face to any of them again?

Surely, now they would all consider him weak. Would they even deign him worthy of standing in their presence any longer? _He_ wasn't even sure he wanted to stand with himself.

He had been told that other combatants had had similarly disappointing appearances, not the least of which was Uchiha Koukatsu, who had also lost without landing a single blow. Close behind was the loss of Tenshou Kizui, who had fought the other older Mist nin and had landed only a single ineffective strike.

But that really didn't help his tensions any. They had all three fought Kiri nin. The Uchiha had been trumped when his most useful abilities, his fire jutsu and his Sharingan, had been eliminated with one move. That fight could hardly be called fair. Kizui…wasn't really a surprise. The clown cared more for goofing off and gambling than he ever had training.

No, Hitayio had no excuse. His performance had been abysmal.

Even his teammates had done better than he had. Hotaru actually managed to win her match, even fighting against an older genin, though a kind one, it seemed. Rei had, apparently, fought to a dramatic draw with Taru, which Hitayio knew was nothing to be ashamed of. Only _he_ had lost.

_He_, who was supposed to be the strongest on the team. Who should be the one protecting the others. Who had held the highest taijutsu scores in the Academy. Who had always joked because it had seemed simply too easy.

_He, who_ had been the only one to lose.

Before he even realized it, his fist slammed against the bed under him with such force that he actually felt himself get lifted up. He flinched when the landing put pressure on his injured side, groaning as he lay back down.

"Jeese. Vicious, aren't we?"

Hitayio turned to glare at his sensei. "You don't know what it's like to be embarrassed in front of everyone like I was! Now they'll never look at me the same again!" His shouting drew the attention of one of the doctors outside, who opened the door just wide enough to shush him.

As soon as they were alone again, Kiba let out a bark of laughter. "You have no idea, kid! Let me tell you about _my_ first chuunin exam."

The genin stared at him with grudging interest.

"Me and my team made it to a preliminary round of matches before the third round, just as yours did. My first teammate had already fought and won in an embarrassingly easy match. So when I looked up and see my name next to the dead last from our class, I felt like I had won the lottery. After all, how could I, one of the best taijutsu specialists from the Academy, lose to such a dobe."

"Of course, the guy then proceeded to beat me into unconsciousness. He even had enough energy afterwards to go back into the stands and cheer for _my _teammate in the very next match, rather loudly, I might add. I was devastated and utterly embarrassed by the loss. For the following month, I avoided my family as much as possible so that I wouldn't be forced to talk about it and threw myself into training with the one teammate I had that had advanced. I just knew I had to get stronger in whatever way possible."

"A month later, I go to watch the third round of the exams. My former opponent was to face Neji, genius of the Hyuuga clan and one of the favorites to win the tournament as a whole. I watched in stunned silence as the dead last of my class beat the shit out of a boy a year older than us, one that held the title of genius. He could even run around waving to the audience after the fight! It was then that I realized I had nothing to be embarrassed about. I had lost to one of the strongest genin in the exam."

"To this day, I have still been unable to beat the guy in a spar. Yet, I don't care because I know that every time, we both get stronger. And ya know the name of that dobe?" Kiba paused to make sure he had Hitayio's rapt attention. "Uzumaki Naruto."

The genin stared wide-eyed at him for a while. "You fought Uzumaki Naruto in your first chuunin exam?" Kiba nodded. Hitayio turned away, looking at the foot of his bed thoughtfully as he digested this. Kiba-sensei had been embarrassed about losing to _him?_

He looked back on his own embarrassment and realized that the situation was not all that different. Having a more realistic outlook showed him that his opponent had most definitely _not_ been a genin, just as the guy's teammate hadn't been one. He shouldn't sit here sulking about the loss or get angry about it. His loss had merely been the result of unfortunate circumstances. Only it wouldn't take him a month to realize his mistake.

Hitayio glanced at Kiba out of the corner of his eye. "Arigatou, Kiba-sensei."

The shaggy jounin just grinned. "Glad to see you're feeling more like normal. As soon as you're cleared for duty, I'll be training both you and Rei so that both of you will pass the next exam with flying colors."

The genin looked at him curiously. "But what about Hotaru-chan? Shouldn't you be training her?"

Kiba scratched his nose, frowning. "Well, Hokage-sama wanted to give her a chance with a new sensei…"

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Hotaru made a lunge for Naruto among the crowded streets. It was nearly supper time, so many of the smaller businesses had begun letting workers out, so there were even more people around.

The jounin merely side-stepped and skipped a few steps away. No matter what she did, he was always just out of reach. And people kept getting in the way!

It was supremely frustrating. And for that matter…

"Aren't you supposed to be _training_ me?" she demanded, her irritation seeping into her usually meek voice.

Naruto chuckled. "But I _am_ training you! Aren't you pushing yourself? If not, you really should be. How else are you going to get your wallet back?"

Hotaru scowled, leaping at the man while trying to avoid harming the nearby civilians. He was doing everything he could to get on her nerves, and she knew it. It only made her try that much harder to capture the bastard and pay him back for it.

"How does stealing my wallet and making _me_ pay for _your_ lunch constitute as training?" she growled, her tone a surprisingly close imitation of Rei's furious one.

Her new sensei paused to pull out the pink case and held it beside his head. "Why incentive, of course." He brought his other hand up to open the wallet in a clearly mocking action. "Let's see…What pictures do you have in here?..." He broke out into a happy grin. "Maybe I can figure out who you have a crush on!"

The genin's eyes narrowed only a moment before she darted forward with speed she hadn't used since her fight with Hato.

Uzumaki, of course, had seen that fight, so he wasn't all that surprised. He jumped up to a nearby rooftop. He grinned and waved at her before dropping down on the other side of the building.

Hotaru cursed under her breath, following after him. She would be mortified if her teammates heard her language, but this was pissing her off. How on earth had she gotten stuck with such a demented sensei?...

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Tounyo stared at Kizui as he literally _bounced_ on his bed, no doubt still in pain but seemingly ignoring it. The medic shook his head. "Kizui-kun, moving around so much will only get you stuck in the hospital for even longer. Now, I _know_ you don't want that."

The white haired genin moaned sadly. "But I'm _bored_!"

Tounyo shook his head. "Yes, I know that, but you _can't_."

Kizui brought his hands up and down at his sides, moving like a child would when it was whining. "But I want something to _do_."

The medic crossed his arms. "And what do you expect _me_ to do about it?"

Tounyo knew he would regret those words the moment the grin spread across Kizui's face. "I'm sure there's _some_ way you could _entertain_ me."

The blonde leveled a glare at his teammate. "And what makes you think I'll do something like that? Being the only healthy one left on Team 11, I have to visit you and Taru and find time to train and complete missions with Konohamaru-sensei. I won't have time to _entertain_ you."

"Actually, you'll have more time than you think," Konohamaru said, walking in the doorway. He paused to lean against the wall just inside the room. "I've been asked to train another one of the genin that are still in the exams. What training you do, you'll have to do on your own. You'll be given another jounin for any missions you are assigned. Otherwise, you're free to do pretty much as you please."

Tounyo groaned, not even having to look up to know that Kizui had a giant grin on his face. Sometimes, he hated his sensei…

"How ya feeling, kiddo?" asked Konohamaru, turning his attention on his other student, grinning back at him.

"Aside from the constant dull ache and sharp twang whenever I move a muscle, pretty good!"

The jounin rolled his eyes. "Well, good to hear, I suppose. I just came by to let you know that if you need me in the next month, I'll probably be in training area 23. I've gotta go meet my new student in a few minutes, so I'll see ya around." Konohamaru gave a brief wave, receiving a responding one from Tounyo, before exiting through the door.

Tounyo sighed, slowly turning back to Kizui. The sight of the evil grin on his teammate's face sent shivers through his spine.

"Now you have plenty of time to entertain me!"

The medic frowned. "Now Kizui-"

"Ah! I'll hear none of it! You are now my slave until the end of my stay here! Now, strip, beetch!" This was accompanied by the slapping noise of his hand hitting his leg.

Tounyo fixed him with a dull glare, his equivalent of a 'fuck you'.

Kizui frowned. "Aw, come on. Can't you take a joke?" The glare continued. The white haired genin sighed. "Fine, fine. We'll play poker then." When Tounyo didn't move, Kizui shifted nervously, ignoring the pain that came with it. "A friendly game, I promise."

The blonde gradually eased up his gaze. "No betting then."

"Aw, but I love betting!"

Tounyo's eyes narrowed. "That's because you bet on everything and still manage to win," he snapped irritably.

Kizui grinned. "Exactly!" When his teammate made no move to join him at his bedside, the injured genin gave in reluctantly. "Fine. No betting."

"Okay then." Tounyo picked up his chair and dragged it next to Kizui. So long as things didn't get out of hand again, he should be safe…

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Nebin stood across from his father in a ready stance, breathing heavily. Neji stood defensively, awaiting his son's next strike. Nebin shifted so that he had one hand low in front of him and the other held behind him. He darted forward, initiating his offensive. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms)

"Two!" He lashed out twice with insane speed. With a simple flick of his wrists, Neji deflected the two attacks and jabbed at Nebin with two fingers and a follow-up palm strike. Nebin gritted his teeth, sliding his feet in an attempt to dodge while still maintaining the agility necessary for the continuation of his jutsu. Unfortunately, he was too slow with the movement, allowing the first attack to hit his forearm and the follow-up to connect with his shoulder.

He grunted, backing away from his offensive. Snarling, he dropped to his knees and punched the ground. "Why can't I do this, damn it! It shouldn't be this difficult!"

Neji regarded his son impassively. "The Sixty Four Palms technique was designed to put the opponent off balance and keep them so. Yet, the finale requires great speed to complete. You have clearly focused too much of your effort reaching that speed. You must learn to put a similar amount of agility into your initial strikes. It is a habit that will take time to train you out of."

Nebin grunted, standing back up. "But I thought that was how the jutsu was designed."

"It was, initially. I have adapted it to better fit the needs of a ninja. You can do the same."

The younger Hyuuga frowned. "But why can't I learn it in the way that you did?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "You'd rather face your mother's Soshoryu (Twin Rising Dragons) until you are able to dodge every one of the projectiles without being touched?"

Nebin paled, eyes widening, before shaking his head violently.

His father smirked knowingly. "Now, have you had enough rest to continue?" he asked, dropping into a defensive stance.

Nebin took a deep breath before dropping into his attack position. "Hai." He brought his hands around to begin his technique. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms)


	28. Cold Blood

(I'm not sure how well I liked this chapter (or recent ones for that matter), but I feel I need to do some character development instead of all of that constant fighting. Anyway, I'll start picking things up once I get around to each character after the prelims.

**Disclaimer:** SSF: Hold up, hold up. Since when do I own Naruto?

Lawyer: You don't.

SSF: I don't?

Lawyer: You don't.

SSF: Okay, good. I can complain about it as much as I like now. *proceeds into long series of curses*

Lawyer: *to the audience* Just read this _fan_fiction.)

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**Cold Blood**

Hato awoke two mornings after the prelims to the same numbness he had felt the day before. He sighed softly, disappointed with how long it was taking him to recover from his admittedly severe injuries. He opened his eyes and glanced around briefly.

He was surprised to note that he already had a visitor. The purple haired girl blushed when their eyes met, turning away in embarrassment.

"Good morning, Hotaru-chan."

She blushed a deeper shade of crimson at the suffix. "Hey, Hato-kun."

"It's good to see you. I assume I didn't injure you too badly."

He chuckled as she shook her head. "I hurt you a lot worse than you did me."

Hato waved the comment off, trying to ignore the lack of feeling in his arm. "I'll be out of here in a week or so. Nothing too major."

"I still feel bad for doing that to you when you helped me so much." Hotaru smiled softly. "Now I know that shinobi won't fear my ability. I can fight fully even amongst comrades that do not know what I can do."

The older genin grinned. "Glad to be of assistance. Though, now that you mention it, shouldn't you be training? You did advance to the next round, right?"

The kunoichi nodded. "I did, but I was given a new sensei to train with that doesn't begin training until after lunch." Hato didn't miss the grimace when she mentioned her new teacher.

"There a problem with your new sensei, other than him being too lazy to start early in the morning?"

Hotaru frowned. "I really don't like his training methods."

Hato raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"

The girl looked away, hesitating. "…He stole my wallet."

The injured shinobi gave her an uncertain look. "Who is this sensei of yours?"

She sighed, a hint of irritation in her voice. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Okay…" He had an idea of what was going on by now but wanted to make sure. "What's he having you do for training then?"

"Get back my wallet."

"Through a crowded area?" Hotaru nodded. The older genin smiled weakly. "Well, that does sound like a route that an Uzumaki would take." He paused to shake his head. "My advice is to focus entirely on the objective. Block out all other factors. I think you'll be able to accomplish what he wants if you do that."

The girl looked at the ground. "I'll try…" Then, she looked up at him. "You know an Uzumaki?"

Hato chuckled. "Oh yes, Hinashin-chan is quite the character. Ya know, she tee-pee-ed the Academy on the first day of the year.-"

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Souran stood opposite his sensei in one of the training fields that Konoha was letting the visiting genin use for the duration of the exams. On his left was his puppet, Supaida, across from his teammate, Ichijin, her fan at the ready, just like their sensei's.

With an unspoken signal, both fan-wielders charged forward, brandishing their weapons like clubs. Souran shifted slightly and started into motion in conjunction with Supaida. He ducked under his teacher's first swing and, with a twitch of his fingers, caused his puppet to do the same to Ichijin.

Rotating, he shifted into a punch, adjusting his other hand so that Supaida would lash out with a jab. Both of his foes twisted into a dodge. His sensei pulled around and went into a full body swing with her fan, Ichijin lashing out with a kick at the same time. Souran clenched his teeth, barely managing to jump back and evade his teacher's strike. He heard the clop of wood getting knocked back to the edge of the clearing and frowned, pausing in the spar.

He looked back at his pile of a puppet and cursed mentally. He couldn't keep up with both at the same time!

"Come on, Souran-kun. Get Supaida ready and let's get back to it. We should be training here."

The Sand genin scowled. With a flick of his wrist, Supaida was standing once more at his side. He would adapt to fighting with taijutsu alongside his puppet, damn it. It would improve his combat abilities drastically, especially once his trap had been sprung. He _had_ to do this. With it, he could win the upcoming tournament and give himself a sure chance of becoming chuunin.

Eyes narrowing, he and his puppet rushed forward to engage his teammate and sensei.

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Nami placed her compact stereo, gray in color and blaring music loudly, on the ground at the edge of a borrowed Konoha training ground. With a set of hand seals, she set a powerful genjutsu over the area that would prevent any nearby ninja from watching her and Hason training unless they wanted to reveal themselves by releasing a chakra pulse or were incredibly skilled in illusions. If they were good enough to do that, she was sure they deserved to observe them. Luckily, she didn't feel Uchiha, who could probably do just that, would think of her as enough of a threat to come down himself.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Hason, standing a few steps away.

Nami sighed. "I already told you that I need to. Sasuke-san was faster than I thought, and I need to catch up. Since you're also faster than me, it would be best if I spar against you to improve my own agility."

Hason frowned. "And you're _sure_ no one will be able to see us through your genjutsu?"

The kunoichi scowled. "Hai, I'm sure."

"What will you say if the Hokage asks why we put up an illusion on the area?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "We'll tell her the truth; that we don't want any of our foes to see us training." She dropped into a taijutsu stance. "Now, can we get started? I only have a month to catch up to Uchiha."

"Fine, fine." Hesitantly, he fell into his own stance. Moments later, they were both blurs of motion.

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Toukan stood by a ten foot wide pool of water, going through a set of hand seals. Behind him was a large campfire, isolated from the surroundings by a ring of stones. He was in the wilderness, a good day's travel from Konoha.

He had simply wanted to get away. He couldn't stand the fact that he had been bested by a pathetic Leaf genin, one that hadn't even really injured him. So, he had travelled for a day, ignoring everything around him, pondering his insufficient skills. He came to the conclusion that he would just have to improve them. He would not lose to any peace lovers again.

He finished his jutsu and whispered, "Suiton: Reika no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Subzero Jutsu)

The temperature around him plummeted, the water in the pool freezing in front of him. The entire pond was frozen over in a matter of moments. Breathing heavily, Toukan let his hands fall out of the seal. Tiredly, he stepped sideways and grabbed a spear-like object from the ground, complete with tied kunai on the end. He walked casually out onto the ice, channeling just enough chakra into his legs to maintain balance.

In the center of the pool, he paused and began focusing chakra onto the tip of the spear. With a quick jab, he lodged the weapon into the ice and, using chakra to cut the ice, slowly pushed it farther into the solidified water.

He felt the spear burst through the bottom of the ice and cursed. He hadn't even frozen half of the pool. How could he compete with anyone with such dismal skills?

Scowling, he walked back to shore and grabbed a large stick from the fire, tossing it onto the pool to help melt the ice a little more quickly. It would still take a while, but every little bit helped. With that, he turned toward the forest around him to gather another piece of firewood-

-and scowled when he saw a young child staring at him in awed curiosity.

"Go away, brat, before I kill you."

That brought the boy's attention to the teen. He grinned childishly. "That was amazing. How did you do that?"

Toukan scowled, picking up a bottle of water on the edge of the forest, far enough away to remain liquid. Without a word, he brushed past the boy, ignoring him completely.

The child followed after him, babbling incessantly. "What did you do? Was that some sort of magic? Are you a wizard? Could you teach me how to do it? What's your name? Could I be your friend? Do you think-"

With a vicious snarl, he broke. He spun, throwing the bottle of water at the boy. He started more seals as the bottle approached and was finished before it got halfway there. Mid-air the bottle burst open as the water within it froze, expanding with the change in form. The chakra from the jutsu morphed the freezing liquid into a sharp spike, moving at incredible speed at the boy. The ice buried itself in the child's face, piercing well into his brain.

The child didn't even see any of it.

Toukan jerked the spike back out and glared down at the corpse. The stupid brat deserved it. He had warned him, and he hadn't listened.

Then, he stopped suddenly, pondering his actions. He would have to move now, so that there was no risk of being found out. But that was no matter. Half a day's journey should be enough. If he could find a river, it would be better anyway since moving water was harder to freeze and, thus, better training.

It was definitely worth it.

He broke out into a grin imagining the look on his family's face when they found his cold body, face so bloody it was unrecognizable. The horror would be memorable. Too bad he would miss it.

He licked the bloody ice spike, relishing the taste before tossing it aside, and started back toward his makeshift camp. He needed to get moving as soon as possible.

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"Have you discovered what the Mist nin are up to?" asked Tsunade, fingers interlaced in front of her as she looked out the window of the Hokage's office at the view of Konoha.

She heard a muttered "Troublesome," behind her before receiving a response. "No, they covered their tracks too well. If Kakashi hadn't been following the one with his dog when he went through town, we wouldn't even be able to tell where he's been to. Since then, we've had ANBU watching their movements, and nothing peculiar has come up yet. If they weren't so strong, I'd say they were just normal competitors."

The Godaime sighed, turning toward her companions. "Well, why don't you bring them in for questioning," she suggested. "Maybe we'll learn something then."

Shikamaru shook his head. "We don't have enough evidence. At this point, they could just deny everything, and we'd have next to nothing to get them to say more. In addition, we couldn't risk using the Sharingan or any interrogative genjutsu without tempting war with Kiri. They've even explained how they were accepted into the ranks when they had previously been missing nin. They're using this team as a blatant advertisement and are very fond of them. Our hands are tied, Tsunade-sama."

Beside him, Ino scowled, no doubt irritated that her planned methods for extracting information would go unused.

The Hokage cursed under her breath. "Keep searching everywhere Hason went during the prelims. They'll slip up eventually. We just need to be there when they do."

Shikamaru nodded.

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Taru sat in her bed, staring out the nearby window, Hana asleep in her lap. The doctors had said that she would be released in another day or two. Not that it really mattered to her. She was in no hurry to get back to work.

She sighed exhaustedly. She was still under some pain killers, so she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings. However, she was well enough to accept visitors.

Tounyo had already stopped by a couple of times, carrying Kizui once, to check on her. Her sensei had come in the day before to let her know that he would be training another student. Even Rokuden had paid her a visit, to her distinct surprise and pleasure. Aside from the doctors, the only other guest she had received was-

"Hey, Taru." The cat nin looked up at the closing door. Rei stood there with Masaru at her side, a hospital robe on and bandages on much of her body, much like Taru. The blonde smiled.

"Come on in, Rei." The other neko nin was in the room across the hall and the pair had been visiting each other fairly often. In the two days they had been there they had built a camaraderie between them. They could relate to each other on a level that no one else could.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of this place."

Taru chuckled. "And go back to D rank missions? No thanks."

Rei sat down in the chair at the foot of her bed, wincing slightly. "Ha. You don't even have a sensei for the next month, so you don't have to worry about that. Kiba-sensei doesn't have anyone to train, despite Hotaru advancing."

The blonde tilted her head. "Do you know who her new teacher is yet?"

The brunette smirked. "Yeah, Uzumaki Naruto. And apparently he's giving her a rather difficult time, too."

Taru laughed lightly. "If it's the same Naruto that Konohamaru-sensei talks about so often, I can see why."

"Hm. Well, he seems like an interesting fellow." She closed her eyes tiredly. "I wish I had some catnip or a ball of yarn."

The two fell silent at that announcement, Rei relaxing in her chair and Taru looking out the window once more.

After a few minutes of this, Taru realized that her brown haired companion was being unusually silent. She turned to her to find her asleep in the chair, Masaru similarly out at her feet. The blonde smiled, absentmindedly petting Hana's head as she returned her gaze to the window. She would let them sleep. She wasn't the only one with meds in her system.


	29. Denied

((Alright. Let's see if I can't get things rolling a little quicker here. It's seemed a little boring to me lately.

**Disclaimer:** SSF: You ready for the story, editor?

Rinfanalltheway: Of course, Mr. I-don't-own-Naruto.

SSF: Didn't you want some food?

RFATW: Oh yeah! Lemme go get some chips. (walks out)

SSF: Well, hurry up! (hears a crash) Agh, what the hell? I'll go ahead and tell the story and check on him later.

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**Denied**

Taka walked out of her room with a look of purpose on her face. It had been a week since the end of the prelims. She had been home for four of the days and spent her time training and building the courage for what she was now determined to accomplish. She wouldn't waste any more time.

Both of them had lost their bouts in the prelims and now didn't have any serious training that they needed to do. Maybe he would have time to spend with her.

She headed for the door of the house, walking by the other residents, doing her best to ignore them even when one of them started to speak to her.

Before she could reach the door, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going, bitch?"

Taka scowled, turning around to look at her Aunt Celeste. The woman was thin but muscular with a pretty face and beautiful straight black hair. She wore her favorite purple skirt and white shirt, no doubt concealing shinobi equipment.

"Mother, don't."

Taka gave her cousin a surprised look. "Hato-kun, you're back! I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah, right, bitch. Now, where were you going?"

"Mother," Hato began warningly.

The youngest Koudoukou glared at the woman. "I don't see how it's any of your business."

Celeste's eyes narrowed. She quickly switched tactics. "Hato tells me you mastered the Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu (Snake of the Zodiac Jutsu)." Taka only scowled at her, which essentially meant 'yes'. "How stupid are you, bitch? You could have ended the line of family heirs! You didn't even have a teacher!"

The young girl turned her frosty gaze to the other adult in the room, who was sitting in a chair a few feet away. His shoulder-length red hair reflected his status as a Koudoukou. He wore the standard shinobi garb of Konoha. "Yeah, I had to learn from a scroll instead." The man flinched at the girl's words. Turning back toward her aunt, Taka continued coldly. "But that did allow me to choose what techniques I would learn first."

"You dumbass! There's a tradition in this clan to live up to! How can we do that when you go and do things how you please?!"

The woman pulled a fist back and began to jab out at the young girl. Taka only braced herself for the blow. To her surprise, it never came. Instead, Hato stood beside his mother with a hand holding hers back, despite the injuries he still suffered.

"Celeste." Taka saw the older woman flinch at the use of her real name by her own son. "If you hit Taka again, I will no longer live in this house."

The two adults stared, wide-eyed, at their son.

Without pulling his eyes away from Celeste, Hato continued. "Go on and leave, Taka. She won't do this again."

In complete shock, Taka turned and walked out the door.

Hato had never done anything near that before. Usually, he just walked out. He had actually stood up for her. And then promised that it wouldn't happen again.

That was the most amazing gift she had ever received.

She hoped it was a prelude to how good the rest of the day would be.

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Tounyo sparred regularly with Taru, throughout their time as teammates. He would sit back on the defensive, while Taru lashed out at him. He would weave through her attacks and strike back, without chakra, whenever he found an opening in her style. It was good for both of them. He got better at dodging and countering, and she reduced the number of imperfections in her offensive.

Thus, he had some experience with that type of training.

When Konohamaru-sensei had asked him to come down and help him train his new student with this method, Tounyo was glad to have a different person to test himself against.

He was vastly disappointed.

He ducked under a punch, set his feet, and jabbed Hinashin in the stomach just strong enough to let her know that he could have finished the fight there. The blonde girl snarled angrily and rotated into a kick. Tounyo deflected the blow over his head. This had been pretty standard throughout the match.

Hinashin shifted into a Jyuuken stance and began thrusting out with palm strikes. Surprisingly, Tounyo was forced into evasion. Apparently, her Jyuuken was a lot more systematic and controlled than her general pattern. He was much less offensive after the switch but still got in a number of decent strikes, only receiving a few chakra-less hits himself.

It was more difficult than before but still not on the same level as sparring with Taru.

And this girl had passed on to the next stage of the chuunin exams…

Tounyo shook his head, countering another palm strike.

"Alright, that's enough for today," called Konohamaru, stepping toward them.

Both of the combatants paused, dropping their arms and relaxing their stances. Tounyo took a deep breath, attempting to slow his heart. He had pushed himself a little harder than he thought.

"I'll let you two get to the rest of your training," he told his sensei.

Konohamaru nodded. As he walked away, Tounyo heard the man say, "Let's get to work on your ninjutsu."

Tounyo sighed when he heard a cheer from Hinashin, starting back toward his home. He really couldn't believe that girl had managed to win in the prelims. The only things she had going for her were a lot of stamina and her Uzumaki genes.

Oh well. Sometimes that's just how things worked.

He looked up at the sun, judging it to be just before noon. He really didn't feel like sitting in a line and waiting for food, or he would have been tempted to go out to eat. Being impatient with such things by nature, he felt no desire to do so.

The trip back to his small two bedroom home didn't take very long. His mother had bought the house specifically so that it would be near the training areas. His father, hardly ever being there, didn't really care.

He stepped inside the house, looking around the small living room, before sitting down on the comfortable couch. Apparently, his mother heard him because she stepped in the doorway, washing her hands on a towel, having been doing the dishes.

"Hey, dear," she said happily, her brown eyes shining. Her curly blonde hair hung behind her to just below her shoulders. Her slightly wrinkled face grinned at him. Her ninja gear looked slightly odd on such a motherly figure.

"Hey, Mom. Enjoying your day off?"

The woman smiled at him. "Oh yeah. I got to be here when you had a visitor come by. Quite the cutie, too."

Tounyo raised an eyebrow, walking past her into the kitchen. "Oh? And who would that be?" he asked, starting to make his own lunch.

His mother came up next to him and began putting the dishes back in the cupboard. "Said her name was Taka."

The boy paused, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Now, why would she stop by?"

His mother remained silent for a moment. Then, ignoring his question. "Thinking about dating her?"

Tounyo snorted. "You know how I feel about dating right now, Mom."

The woman shrugged. "You'll change your mind eventually."

The younger blonde rolled his eyes. "Well, I doubt that's what she wanted anyway."

"Well, you'll find out later today. I told her to come back sometime this afternoon."

Tounyo frowned. "Guess I get to train in the backyard then."

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Hari focused his chakra, going through a set of hand seals. As he finished the seals, his form shifted colors in waves to match the green and brown of his surroundings, never having more than half of his body cloaked. He scowled, releasing his focus so that he returned to his normal tan clothes, complete with red mask.

Irritated, he flung a kunai into the nearby river to relieve some stress. It hit the water with a "Splunck". He turned toward his teacher, figuring that he would retrieve the weapon later.

The white haired man was crouched near a bush, looking through it with some binoculars in hand, giggling perversely.

When he was beside the man, Hari paused, glancing at what his teacher was looking at. His gaze was caught by the forms of three very beautiful women bathing in the pool of water at the base of a waterfall. He stared at their amazing bodies for a second before shaking himself. He only had three weeks to train for the rest of the chuunin exam. He could refrain from ogling women for that time.

Turning back to his sensei, he spoke, allowing his irritation to show through. "Jiraiya-sensei, could you at least give me a tip or two while I work on these jutsu? I'm struggling over here."

The old man giggled before sighing and standing up. "If you were anyone else, kid, I'd have just ignored you. Since it's you, let's see what you've got."

"Arigatou, sensei." Hari hopped back, doing the seals again. A moment later, he stood half invisible with his form shifting constantly. "See? I don't get it."

Jiraiya frowned. "You're not putting enough chakra into the jutsu. Pump a little more into it and try again." Hari did as told and managed to camouflage about three-fourths of his body. "Better. Keep working at it, and I'll check on you again in about half an hour."

"Hai." As he dispelled the technique and started again, he was temporarily distracted by a perverted giggle. Rolling his eyes, he focused on his training.

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Taka paused outside her crush's house, taking a deep breath. He hadn't been there earlier in the day, when she had first visited. It had taken her fifteen minutes to build up the courage to knock on the front door then. Now, having met his mother, she was a little more comfortable.

Of course, when she knocked on the door again, her nerves were still causing her to fidget anxiously. She had even returned to her home, with her terrible aunt, who had surprisingly left her alone, to take another shower, as she had gone to train earlier, before coming here again; that's how apprehensive she was.

She would do this. She had gotten an incredible gift from her cousin this morning. Surely, that was a good sign. Besides, they were both ninja. It was impossible to know when either of them wouldn't come back from a mission.

She would do this and do it _now_.

Her breath caught in her throat when the door clicked open.

"Yes?" asked Jacquel, her crush's mother, as she stepped into the doorway. Upon seeing who it was, she smiled. "Oh, hello, Taka-san. Here for Tounyo again?"

Taka forced a smile, nodding. "Is he here now?"

The woman continued smiling kindly, motioning the girl into the house. "Hai. He should be out back, training." The redhead followed the older kunoichi into the home. Jacquel pointed to the only other door in the apparent living room. "Just go through the kitchen and out the door."

"Arigatou." Taka walked into the kitchen, looking around curiously. The place was small but comfortably clean. It was…nice.

Finding the door to the backyard, the girl stepped out, her nervousness returning in spades. She stopped dead when she caught sight of her crush.

His perfect body was in motion, more-so for the upper body. She watched his blond hair sway with the movement, highlighting his smooth, though still somewhat childish, face. A few seconds later, Tounyo looked up, meeting her gaze.

"Hey, Taka-chan, what's up?"

The redhead blushed, dropping her gaze. It was then that she noticed that he was juggling three small balls, covered with what looked like seals.

Trying to stall so she could get her confidence back, she spoke with as much curiosity as she could muster. "What are you doing?"

As she returned her eyes to his, she found his gaze switching between her and the balls in front of him. He grinned at her momentarily. "Training, of course."

Taka raised an eyebrow, slowly growing more comfortable. "That doesn't look like training."

Tounyo rolled his eyes and then had to reach out to catch a ball that he had accidentally thrown too far in his distraction. Recovering, he told her what he meant. "For one, juggling, especially while doing something else like talking, helps me improve my coordination, allowing me to better judge how to react to an attack. In addition, ya see the seals on these balls?" The girl nodded. "They make it so that the ball only remains inflated if you pump chakra into it whenever your skin comes into contact with it. They were specially designed by an uncle of mine. They're surprisingly effective for training chakra control."

Taka stared at him incredulously. "That still looks boring if you ask me."

Her crush gave her a half-smirk. "It actually takes a surprising amount of concentration. Here. You give it a try." He tossed one of the balls in her direction. Being a ninja, she had little trouble catching it, despite being surprised. She frowned when it deflated in her hand.

Tounyo chuckled at her befuddled look, still juggling the remaining two balls in one hand. "Try pumping some chakra into it." Taka frowned in concentration, doing as told. She scowled when it pumped up momentarily, only to shrink once more. "You're probably putting too much chakra into it. It's a chakra control exercise, not stamina. The amount it needs is miniscule."

The redhead nodded, trying again. She managed to get it to inflate to normal size and held it there for a short time. Then, she smirked and the ball deflated as her concentration faltered. She glowered at the item. "How can you keep it full while still talking and juggling?" she asked in annoyance.

The boy laughed. "Lots and lots of practice. But I'm a medic, so it's what I need to train in most. I can't get distracted while I'm healing an injury, even in the middle of a battlefield. It could be deadly to my patient."

Taka nodded in understanding. Tounyo held out his hand in a motion for her to toss the seal-covered ball back to him. She did so, and, almost instantly, he was back to juggling with both hands.

"So, I assume you weren't here to investigate my training methods." He looked up to find her looking away sheepishly. "May I inquire as to the reason behind this visit?" he asked with mock formality.

Taka moved from foot to foot, too nervous to play along. "I was wondering whether you'd like to go out to a movie or something with me."

Tounyo raised an eyebrow. "Just the two of us?" Taka nodded anxiously. The blonde chuckled. "That's funny. Sounds almost like you're asking me out on a date." When he looked back at her and found her looking away, rubbing her cheek with nervous embarrassment, his face darkened. He caught the three balls in his hands, pausing in his juggling and allowing them to deflate.

With his sudden movement, she looked up with cautious hope and flinched away from his cold gaze. "Taka-san," he started with a dark formality, causing the girl to cringe. "We are too young to date. "

"But how do you know if you haven't given it a try?" she asked desperately, still clinging to some small remnant of hope.

"Do you know what love is?" Tounyo countered.

Taka bit her lip. "Sure I do. It's the deepest emotion a person can feel for another."

"But do you know what it feels like to love someone?" He assumed the girl's continued silence as a no. "I do not think anyone our age is capable of finding out the answer to that. Children, such as we, simply do not have the understanding to fall in love. We cannot give ourselves to another because we are too selfish."

He paused to let that sink in. Taka stared at the ground in front of her in embarrassment. Eventually, Tounyo spoke again, this time more softly, in a comforting tone.

"It's not because of who you are. I would not date anyone at this age. Come ask me again in a few years if you still feel this way about me, but now is not the time."

He patted her shoulder as she started to walk away. With tears in her eyes, she walked back through the house. She was embarrassed enough as it was; she wouldn't make it worse by running now. She walked by Jacquel without a word, not even looking at her. The woman gave her a sorrowful look, having no doubt that she knew what had happened.

As she walked out of the house, Taka let the tears fall.


	30. The Unfortunate Team

**The Unfortunate Team**

Tsunade scowled irritably. "And you're sure this information is accurate?"

The teen in front of her shifted uncomfortably. "Hai, Hokage-sama. The bandits were raiding a village when I went by. It was impossible to tell how many there were, so I didn't want to risk it alone."

The Godaime shook her head. "And they were headed toward Konoha?"

"After observing them for a few days, that's the only conclusion I could reach. They were moving slowly, but with a clear destination."

The blonde sighed. "Unfortunately, most of our chuunin are working on the exams and jounin are fixing up our security. I don't have anyone that could really go on a mission like this."

The man tilted his head. "What about a few of the genin that got knocked out. I heard some of them were pretty good. Send three of them and a jounin-sensei. After surviving the first two parts of the chuunin exam a C-ranked mission should be easy enough for them."

Tsunade locked her gaze on him. "But we don't know how many there were."

"Bandits are easy enough to handle if you can create some chaos. I just can't do that well enough alone."

The Hokage rubbed her temples. "Alright, I'll assemble a team. I want you to go with them, Aitaro-san, to help keep the genin safe. Come back in two hours to meet them."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

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Kiba stood between Hitayio and Rei and Masaru, a feral smirk on his face. Akamaru was off to the side, watching silently. The only reason he was out there training them was because he knew they would have trained themselves, despite the doctor's orders, anyway, so he figured it was better for him to be there with them, just in case something went wrong.

The jounin clearly still had a lot of energy left, while his two students looked on the brink of exhaustion. Still, the pair looked determined to keep going.

Hitayio darted forward, kunai in hand. He feinted with an initial jab, causing Kiba to move to dodge. Hitayio switched to a slash, putting what little strength he had left into the move. The brown haired teacher rotated along the attack, evading it.

Rei took this opportunity to step in with a slice of her claws. Using his incredible speed, Kiba ducked under the blow and shifted around her, grabbing her other arm and throwing her across the training ground. When Hitayio moved to strike back with a low cut, the jounin hopped over the boy, grasping his shoulders and then launching him after his teammate. Masaru leapt at him, claws at the ready, only to be caught by the belly and tossed toward the other two.

Kiba let out a breath. "Getting better, kids." The two genin scowled at him, causing their sensei to chuckle.

"Inuzuka-san." Kiba turned to the ANBU at the edge of the clearing. He could tell that the ANBU had a serious look on his face, even through the mask. "Hokage-sama requests your presence immediately."

The brown haired jounin sighed. He glanced over his shoulder at his students. "Take a break, guys. If I'm not back in half an hour, head home. I'll come by your homes to tell you about any changes in plans."

Rei nodded as Hitayio plopped down on his rear beside her. He spun toward the Hokage Tower, unsurprised to find the ANBU gone, and leapt into the trees. A moment later, Akamaru ran beside him.

As he traveled, he hoped that whatever the Hokage needed, it wasn't bad news.

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Tounyo sighed, sitting under a tree in one of the many parks within Konoha. He put his bookmark on the page where he had just finished a chapter and looked up at the branches. It was the day after he had turned down Taka.

He didn't regret his decision; he would probably say the same thing again if it happened again, despite thinking about it a painful amount of time over the past day. The pain in her eyes when he had explained his reasoning had been completely devastating to the blonde. To think he had done such a thing to such a young girl.

But it had been necessary to bring Taka back down to earth. Reality wasn't going to go along with such ridiculous dreams. Trying to push a relationship now would only end up hurting the both of them in the long run. They just never worked out.

It still hurt to think about the look in her eyes, even with that rationalization behind his decision.

With a sigh, he opened the book in his lap once more, hoping to distract himself as he had been.

He didn't get far before someone landed next to him. He glanced up curiously at the black haired boy. "Konohamaru-san told me I'd find you here."

Tounyo raised an eyebrow. "Koukatsu-san, what a surprise," stated the blonde, closing his book. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The Uchiha smirked down at him. "Seems like we'll be working together. Hokage-sama wants to see us."

Tounyo tilted his head to the side, standing up. This couldn't have come at a better time for him. This would give him something much more productive to concentrate his thoughts on than his rejection of Taka. "Oh? Any idea who our companions will be?"

Koukatsu shook his head. "No, but we'll find out shortly. She wants to see us _now_."

The medic nodded. "Lead the way."

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Taka brought her hands into the seal once more, determined to get it right. She felt the chakra flow into her legs and started forward. Gritting her teeth, she lashed out at the dummy with a kick, moving quickly into a roundhouse follow-up. She focused her moves on her legs to take advantage of the abilities of her family's rabbit jutsu.

Yet, she knew it wasn't working correctly. She wasn't getting the speed or power boost she should be receiving from the technique.

And she simply couldn't figure out why.

No. She knew why.

Her vision began to blur as she pulled back from the training post. The image of Tounyo giving her those stern eyes as he rejected her flashed before her eyes as they began to leak tears.

She couldn't stop thinking about him. About how he had rejected her over apparently nothing. No, it wasn't nothing; it was age.

She thought over the reasons he had given her for her rejection once more. She wanted to argue against them, shout to the world that she was old enough for anything, damn it.

But the words rang with truth behind them. Despite them being legally allowed to do such things as shinobi, and thus considered adults, deep down, she knew that she wasn't really mature enough to take a relationship seriously. The mind of a preteen simply could not wrap their mind around the sheer emotions it would require.

But what kind of twelve year old would realize that?

Taka knew that Tounyo would.

She punched the training post in front of her angrily, falling to her knees. She whimpered pathetically, eyes still leaking tears.

She sensed someone land behind her, but she no longer cared. It could have been an enemy, there to slit her throat, and she wouldn't have done anything. She was an emotional wreck, and she knew it.

"Emotions are, perhaps, the most challenging part of a shinobi's career."

The redhead snorted at her sensei's emotionless voice. She doubted he knew much about it; she couldn't see him falling in love with someone.

"Do you want to discuss it?"

Taka gave a derisive laugh. "Nah, I don't think it would help much. I just have to block out my feelings, like we were trained to." The statement was weakened by her sniffling immediately afterward.

Neither spoke as Taka regained control of herself. Eventually, Shino responded. "Despite what is taught in the Academy, not all shinobi must lock away their emotions. Some of our strongest ninja embrace their emotions." The speech seemed rather unusual when made in such a stoic voice.

The girl wiped her eyes, turning slightly to look at her sensei. "And who would that be?"

"There are many. Uzumaki Naruto is the most famous. My fellow sensei are also very connected to the feelings."

Taka glared at the ground in front of her. "But none of them had to live the life I've lived or experienced the heartache I feel now."

"You would be surprised. The specifics are not mine to share, but Naruto endured harsh resentment from most of the village throughout his childhood." He paused before addressing the second concern. "The pain you feel now is natural for someone your age. Rejection always hurts. Each person deals with it differently. If you want to discuss the subject farther, you should search out Kiba. He fell in love with a woman that ended up marrying one of his closest friends."

Taka blinked away the tears, imagining would that would feel like. Slowly, she turned toward her sensei. "That sucks," she said simply, sympathizing with the man.

Shino only nodded. "However, if you wish to speak to him, you will have to wait until later. Hokage-sama has requested you for a mission."

The redhead took the hem of her shirt and wiped away the remaining tears in her eyes. She turned to face her teacher, as composed as she could manage. "Hai." As she started off, she whispered, "Arigatou, sensei."

Shino watched her go, a light smile on his lips. She would be okay.

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Hitayio and Rei were walking back through the main shopping district of Konoha with Masaru on their heels, still sweaty but having recovered their breath since the training that morning. It was rather crowded around them since it was the lunch rush hour, though few seemed to want to get too close to a panther, as many were scattering from their path as they approached.

Hitayio let out a sigh. "So, what are we going to do if Kiba-sensei has to leave on a mission?"

"I plan to keep on training, whether sensei is there or not."

The male genin rolled his eyes, not really surprised. "Well, at least make sure there is someone there with you. I'm sure you could convince Hotaru to come help when I can't." "_That way, if you do something stupid and injure yourself, you have someone there to get you to the hospital," _he left unsaid.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Is that concern I hear in your voice, Hitayio-kun?"

The red and black haired boy smirked. "No, I don't care about you at all, Rei-chan," he claimed sarcastically.

Rei was about to retort when an orange blur rushed past them, making their hair and clothes flare in a gust of wind. Pushing her slightly disheveled brown hair out of her face, Rei stared after the image. "What was that?"

Before Hitayio could respond, Hotaru landed in front of them, gasping for breath. "Hey guys.--Did you see--which way--Naruto-sensei went?"

The pair stared at her in shock. The girl tapped her foot impatiently, clearly frustrated with more than just them.. Eventually, Hitayio recovered first. "Um…I think he went that way." He pointed after the orange blur.

Hotaru saluted them informally. "Arigatou. See ya later." She vanished after Naruto with a Shunshin.

The two watched her go in stunned silence. Hitayio once more spoke first. "Okay, I take back everything I've said about those two. I would hate to be training with that man, too."

Rei brought a hand up to her forehead. "Agreed."

The male turned to his companion. "Want to grab something to eat before we go home?"

The kunoichi grinned. "Sure."

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Taka approached the door to the Hokage's office at a quick jog. She opened the thick wooden doors, ignoring the guards on either side of her.

"You called, Hokage-sama?"

"Hai. Come in."

She did as told, eyes searching the room for the team she would be going with-

-And froze mid-step. There in front of her stood Tounyo, giving her an awkward and apologetic smile. He looked away and shifted uncomfortably. The room was silent as she collected herself, forcing back the tears she could feel welling in her eyes. It was just her luck that she would be put on Tounyo's team just after having being rejected by him.

Instead of standing on the near side of her soon-to-be team, next to Tounyo, she walked past them all to compose herself next to the only person she didn't recognize. She couldn't stand next to her crush--or former crush, she hadn't decided yet—at this point.

She looked up at the teen next to her, if only for something to occupy her mind. He was rather thin, especially for a ninja and had unusual messy blue hair and bright green eyes. He had on a set of black clothing, from sandals to long pants to his shirt, that only served to emphasize his incredibly pale skin. The back of his shirt had a red spiral design that closely resembled the one she has seen on Uzumaki Naruto's clothing but was somehow different. Overall, he didn't seem that much older than her.

The teen glanced sideways at her, giving her a slight grin. She smiled back with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Then, her attention was drawn by the Godaime's voice.

"I have selected you genin for a C-rank mission that involves the defense of the city itself." Taka raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Tsunade continued in a fairly light-hearted tone. "I have selected the three of you because you are some of the strongest genin we have on active duty."

"More like the _only_ genin on active duty," muttered Tounyo just loud enough for the whole room to hear. The teen next to Taka was the only one that laughed at the comment at all. A few days ago, the redhead would have as well, but at the moment, she didn't have the heart to.

The Hokage simply ignored him. "You will be going West to intercept a group of bandits that are moving in our direction. Kiba will act as your sensei for the duration of the mission. You will be accompanied by Kaji Aitaro, a chuunin who will ensure a your safety throughout the mission. The two of them have already been briefed in more detail. If you have any questions, ask them. I want you leaving the village in one hour. It'll take a grand total of two weeks, so pack appropriately."

"Hai, Hokage-sama" chorused the group. Taka followed the others out, cursing all the while. Two weeks stuck in the company of Tounyo. She had hoped to avoid thinking about the issue as much as possible until it eventually sorted itself out. Now, she would be reminded of it every minute for the next half month.

This mission was going to be Hell.

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Tounyo sighed irritably, staring at his packed bag. He was as ready as he could get for the mission but was not looking forward to it. He had hoped to have a few weeks to gather his thoughts and think of something to say to mend the friendship he and Taka had had before the confrontation yesterday.

Instead, they were going on a mission, along with Koukatsu-san, Kiba-sensei, and a chuunin Tounyo had never met before. Now, what was he supposed to do?

He sighed again. He would just have to act as natural as he could. If the tension he felt was made obvious to the rest of the group, Taka especially, it would only make things worse. She wouldn't feel comfortable enough to approach him with the emotions she was no doubt feeling.

Then again, he wasn't sure what would happen. He hadn't delved into the female psyche enough to understand it. His mother could only give him a limited view as she was a rather unique specimen.

He glanced at the clock, noticing that he only had about ten more minutes until he needed to meet at the gate. He needed to get going. He walked over and picked up his backpack. He paused when it was significantly heavier than he had been expecting. Eyes narrowing, he placed the container back on the ground and unzipped it.

Staring up at him, somehow contorted to fit into the backpack, was Kizui with an ear-splitting grin on his face. Tounyo scowled down at him.

"I don't know how you snuck in here or how you even managed to _fit_ in there, but get _out_."

Kizui groaned, shifting. Then, he paused, frowning, before moving again, more violently. Tounyo stared down at him, somehow not surprised.

A few seconds later, Kizui gave up. He looked up at his teammate pleadingly. "Um…Help?"

Tounyo shook his head. "Sometimes, I can't believe you would do such ridiculous things." He reached in and grabbed the white haired boy under the arms. "But then I remember…It's _you_." He grunted with effort as he attempted to get Kizui unstuck. With a violent tug, he was pulled free and fell uselessly on the ground.

"Can't I come with you?" he moaned weakly.

Tounyo glared at him. "You're still recovering from your injuries, so _no_." He made an exaggerated motion with his arm. "And how did you even know I _had_ a mission? I just got it!"

Kizui only grinned.

Tounyo stared at him as he stood up awkwardly. "No, you can't come. And if I catch you sneaking along, I'm beat you into a pulp so small, you won't even be able to watch the third exam in a few weeks, even with the Hokage healing you."

Kizui frowned. "Aw…"

Tounyo glared, grabbing his pack once more. "I mean it, Kizui."

The white haired genin crossed his arms. "Fine," he said in resignation.

"Good." The medic spun toward the door. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"What am I supposed to do until then?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

With that, he walked out of his house to go meet his temporary team.


	31. Advice

**Advice **

Taru lay on her bed, a book open in front of her. She was thoroughly enjoying her time off due to her injury. With nothing to do for the past few days since she had been released from the hospital, she had spent her time reading in her bed or on the roof of the apartment building, watching the clouds. It had been peaceful and relaxing, despite the slight twinges from her wounds, especially the one in her stomach.

At times like this, she was glad she lived alone.

She sighed as she thought briefly about her dead parents. They had lived in Mist for the first years of her life. Then, her parents had been murdered by their own village. She had been told that the reasons behind it had been political, so she didn't know the specifics, nor did she really care to at this point. The only reason she was still alive was because she had been spirited away by her uncle moments before the attack. He then handed her off to a group of hired Konoha nin to be taken to the Leaf village, while her uncle had drawn the group of Kiri nin chasing them away from her. He, too, had been killed that night.

Since then, she had lived in Konoha. Thinking about it, she realized that this was perhaps the best village for her, as no other village had a more peaceful, kind-hearted reputation than Konoha. Her lazy personality might not have been so accepted in other villages.

She was pulled out of her reverie by a knock on her front door. Sighing, she closed the book in her hand, leaving it on her bed as she stood to go get the door. She walked through her living room and pulled open her entrance. She found Kizui standing there, grinning at her. She shook her head, putting a hand on her brow.

"I know I'm going to regret this…" she muttered, stepping aside to let him in.

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Tounyo sighed as he watched Taka walk out of the camp again. It was the second night of travel towards their mission, and she had done the exact same thing the night before, not returning until after he was already asleep. He really didn't want her to avoid him, but didn't see what he could do about it. Following her would just create an awkward silence; he didn't know what he would say anyway.

He looked up as the chuunin that was sent with them sat down next to him. Aitaro smiled down at him, causing him to give a weak smile back. When Tounyo had found out who his other teammate was going to be, along with the Uchiha, he had immediately told the rest of the group and the Hokage about the encounter between the two of them. When asked whether it would cause problems between them, he had thought he was being honest when he told them no. He hoped he hadn't been lying.

"You seem stressed," commented the Kaji casually. Tounyo snorted.

"More-so than I've ever been."

"Still concerned with the girl?"

The younger nin stared at him. "More worried about what will happen to this mission if she doesn't start treating me like a normal teammate."

Aitaro hummed softly, turning his gaze on the fire in front of them. Tounyo raised his chin in a curious gesture.

"What about you? You're older than me, fairly attractive; you must have more experience than me. What would you do?"

The older nin laughed. "Yes, two years makes _so_ much difference." Tounyo looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a half-smirk quirking the edge of his lips. He waited for Aitaro to continue. Eventually, he finally did. "Seriously, I'm probably not the best person to ask about relationships."

The medic went into a full-out smirk. "Yeah, I guess I should ask the emotionless Uchiha or the still-single Kiba-sensei. You're the only one left."

Aitaro chuckled. "Well, when you put it that way…" He sighed, staring into the fire as he became suddenly serious. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Act as you normally would around her until she finally wizens up and starts doing the same." The pair were silent for a minute as Tounyo absorbed that. Once Aitaro thought the younger nin had had enough time, he continued. "Really, if you were the one to do the rejecting, it's up to her to treat you like a friend. You won't really have much say in it."

Tounyo leaned back to stare up at the darkening sky, groaning. "I hate waiting…"

Aitaro only smiled, still looking at the flames. Across from them, Koukatsu spoke with mild sarcasm. "I disagree with that statement." Tounyo put his arms behind his head so that he could lift his head to look at the Uchiha curiously. "One: I am not emotionless," he stated with slight amusement. "And two: I think I know a bit about rejecting a girl." He turned to the side, muttering. "Stupid fangirls."

The medic laughed lightly, laying back down. "I think the circumstances are a little different in our two situations."

Koukatsu shook his head. "If you say so."

Tounyo smirked, looking around the camp. "Is Kiba-sensei going to appear and try to give me advice, too?" he asked sarcastically.

Aitaro looked around as well. "I think he went after Taka-san."

The youngest ninja laid back, sighing. "Maybe he can talk some sense into her."

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Taka picked up a rock and tossed it into the middle of the stream, watching it clunk into the water with an emotionless expression. She didn't know what to think. It was like Kami was punishing her for some unknown offense. How could she get put on a team with the one man she couldn't stand being near at the moment?

So, she was doing her best to put her ninja training to use and block out her emotions, like any true shinobi would.

Unfortunately, it wasn't really working. The anger, depression, confusion, and resentment just wouldn't go away. The next throw was a violent jerk that sent the rock at a sharp angle, causing it to stick in the mud at the bottom of the stream.

She turned, a scowl on her face. She kicked the dirt, scattering dust. What could she _do_?

"You alright there, kid?"

Taka's eyes shot to the speaker. Kiba stood at the base of a nearby tree, looking down at her in concern. She frowned at him. Her sensei's words returned to her, telling her that Kiba would be one of the better people to consult with her problem.

Still, she remained hesitant.

He approached her quietly as she took a seat where she stood, facing the stream. He stopped next to her and sat down, both still remaining silent. The kunoichi just stared at the moving water, unsure whether to say anything or not. Eventually, Kiba took the initiative.

"Tounyo told us all about the incident between the two or you."

Taka tensed. Why would he do that? _How_ could he do that? It was extremely personal and none of their business! He had no right to tell them!

But, again, her rational side poked its head out. It only made sense that he would tell them. The situation could affect their behavior and performance. The team needed to know so they would understand what to expect from them and why she, or he, did any irrational actions.

But it still felt like an invasion of her privacy.

She sighed, letting her irritation flow out of her.

"I think I know how you feel."

Taka looked at Kiba in surprise. He was staring out at the stream, his gaze distant. He continued, his voice filled with closed off emotions.

"I fell in love once. She was the most beautiful , shy, and kind person I have ever known. She was perfect for me in every way." He sighed wistfully. "Unfortunately, I wasn't perfect for her. By the time I built up the courage to ask her on a date, she was completely smitten with someone else. I stood no chance. I was crushed, an emotional wreck for weeks. It was one of the most miserable times in my life."

He brought a hand up to his forehead, shaking his head sadly. By then, Taka was staring at him, at rapt attention. When he didn't immediately continue, Taka prodded him.

"What'd you do?"

Kiba glanced at her as if just realizing she was there. Then, he shook his head, returning to his story.

"I realized that she was still important to me, no matter whether it was in the form of a husband or just a friend. I first reconciled myself and then started treating her like I needed to, like a close friend. It still hurts on occasion when I realize I'll never get the one I love, but I know it's a lot better than nourishing a grudge against someone who doesn't deserve it."

The two fell silent. Kiba continued to look at the stream as Taka frowned at him. Eventually, the kunoichi brought a hand up to massage her temples.

"I know the situations aren't quite the same, but I think the circumstances are similar enough that the lesson will still apply." He looked sideways at the girl. She had her eyes closed, laying back to gaze up into the trees above her.

"So, you think I should accept him as a friend and leave it at that?"

Kiba gave her a slight smile. "I'm sure it'll take time, but I think you'll be a lot happier that way."

Taka sighed before vaulting to her feet. "I'll think about it." She walked over to the stream and grabbed another rock, tossing it downriver.

Kiba watched her for a moment. "I'm impressed by your fortitude. Most kunoichi your age would be a complete wreck right now. Shino's done a good job with you."

The girl scowled. "I've had some help with that from my family," she said darkly. Then, she smiled softly over her shoulder. "But sensei's done a good job with all of us."

Kiba returned the gesture. " I hope you figure this out, kid."

Taka sighed softly. "So do I."

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Naruto pranced casually through the market district of Konoha. He glanced into nearby stores, window-shopping in only the most general definition of the term. He ignored the owners whenever they saw him and scowled, an increasingly rare occurrence as time went by, and smiled at any that waved at him, which was becoming surprisingly often.

The blonde was proud of the changes he had wrought in the opinions of much of the population of the city. It was taking time, but gradually, he was morphing their views of him to a more positive version. Yet, it was a slow-going process and he was finding out that people as a whole were a lot more stubborn than even he could have thought. But Naruto was stubborn, too; he wouldn't be giving up until he had converted _all_ of Konoha, dattebayo!

He was forced to hop to the side as a raven-haired woman invaded his personal space nonchalantly. Naruto appraised the woman with a grin. "Sorry, Hotaru-chan, but that's not going to work either."

The lady scowled, bursting into a cloud of chakra smoke. In her place was the pink-eyed, purple-haired Hotaru. "How did you know?" she demanded sourly.

Naruto continued grinning. The girl had begun using the basic ninja techniques a few days ago; she had even pulled out a few more advanced ones, but none of them were from her kekkei genkai.

"I could sense the chakra of the technique around you," stated Naruto cheerfully. "You're going to have to do better than that, Hotaru-chan."

The kunoichi glared at him. He could tell she was getting extremely irritated by his training but was still hesitant to use her bloodline. Her fear was apparently too deeply ingrained to be overcome so quickly. Naruto only hoped he could break through to her before the end of the month or the girl would have next to no chance during the tournament.

Naruto was forced to jump away as the girl launched herself at him. With a chuckle, he vanished into the crowd. Hotaru growled in a way eerily similar to her cat nin teammate and followed after.

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Hari and Jiraiya stared through the bushes at their normal training area in shock. Their location had been taken over by a young, beautiful blond haired kunoichi; one that Hari recognized; one that had taken off her shirt and trained in only her bra and short blue pants on top of the water. Thus, Hari's face, visibly pale even through his mask, was contorted in shock and fright.

Next to him, Jiraiya giggled perversely. Figures he'd get turned on watching someone just entering their teenage years. Hari tugged on his sleeve nervously.

"Sensei…We should leave."

The old sannin looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Nonsense. This is the perfect viewing area. There's enough room for you to train over there." He motioned vaguely behind him. Hari glanced and only saw numerous trees littering the area. "I'm not going to miss this." Jiraiya giggled perversely again, moving a limb in front of him for a better view.

Hari paled even more, if that was even possible. "No, you don't get it, sensei. I _know_ that girl!" he whispered harshly.

The old man looked at him in surprise. Then, he grinned impishly. "Oh, I get it. You _like_ her!"

The genin scowled but nodded. Jiraiya smirked down at him.

"Does she like you?"

Hari frowned. "As far as I know."

At that point, the boy no longer liked the look on his teacher's face. It promised that the green haired genin would be taking an insane risk in the near future for the sake of the old man.

"Then, go on out there and talk to her."

Hari's eyes widened in fright. "Are you _insane_?!" he demanded in a low hiss. "You don't _know_ her. She'd never let me live it down!"

Jiraiya only continued to grin down at him. "Are you sure she'd react like that?"

"What do you mean, 'am I sure?'?" He paused a moment to ponder that question. Then, he relented, knowing he was going to regret it. "Well, actually, no, I'm not."

The Frog Sannin's grin widened. "Then, go out there and give it a try. It might turn out great!" He continued in a murmur that he knew the boy couldn't hear. "Plus, I might get front row seats and some great inspiration for my next book."

The pair then realized that their conversation had grown a little too loud, as a pair of kunai came whisking through the bushes. Jiraiya instantly disappeared in a Shunshin. Hari sidestepped so that one kunai landed in the trunk of the large tree behind him, one on either side of him. He stared as the girl walked through the bushes.

In a jerk, she pulled on an invisible string that caught Hari across the chest and pulled him back against the tree.

"Sokudo-kun told me you used a technique much like this to win your match in the prelims." The boy took a moment to re-orient himself and then looked up into Magusa's smirking visage. "Hello, Spike-kun."


	32. Pervert And Friends

**Pervert And Friends**

Hari stared into the purple eyes smirking down at him with a nervous laugh. "Hey, Magusa-chan." He paused, hoping she would say something and save him from talking pointlessly. When she didn't, he resigned himself. "Er…I can explain…"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "Explain what? I tracked you here and realized you were using this as a training area. So, knowing you'd come back eventually, I waited for you, getting some training of my own done in the meantime." She grinned down at his slightly bound form. His arms were still trapped at his side by the wire holding him to the tree between the two kunai.

Hari stared at her in surprise. "Oh…" He looked at her sheepishly. "Um…Could you let me down then?"

Magusa, at this point now less than a step away, brought her face to within inches of his. The green haired boy felt himself blush a bright red. Apparently, the kunoichi noticed because she smirked, moving so that her lips were practically touching his ear.

"Don't you _like_ being tied up?" she asked seductively.

His body reacted as any teenage males would. It didn't help that her nearby naked upper body with almost touching his own bound form. Gulping down his instinct to shout 'yes' to the world, he let out a slow, calming breath. Then, he smiled softly. "Please?"

Magusa pulled back a little, frowning at him. But, she relented, turning around as she let go of the string holding Hari to the tree. The male genin let out a relieved sigh as he stepped forward, away from his former bindings. When he looked up, he saw the girl walking back through the bushes to the stream.

Now confident that he wouldn't be killed for seeing Magusa nearly nude and curious as to why she would trail him all the way out here, he followed after her. Upon stepping through the bushes, he found her sitting at the edge of the water, dangling her bare feet in it with a clearly upset look on her face. Concerned, Hari sat down next to her.

Attempting to keep her mind off whatever it was, the boy spoke. "Ya know, you should probably put your shirt back on."

Magusa looked at him with a slight smirk. "What, you don't like seeing my body?" she asked innocently.

The masked genin shifted nervously. "Er…Of course I do…" He stopped, not really wanting to say what he was thinking.

The blonde kunoichi did so instead. "But your sensei is still here?"

Hari nodded. "Probably."

Magusa snorted but stood up to retrieve her shirt. She returned and sat down, intentionally sitting closer to the boy than she had been.

Hari could mentally hear Jiraiya cursing him for telling the girl to do that. The boy scratched his covered cheek nervously, hoping his sensei would forgive him.

He heard the girl sigh beside him and turned to find the upset look back on her face. Worried now, he decided to go ahead and confront the issue. "Are you alright, Magusa-chan?"

The blonde looked at him sorrowfully. "This might be the last conversation I get to have with you." The sadness was apparent in her voice.

Hari frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

She looked back at the stream in shame. "Not only did I lose the prelims, but I lost the ability to see you."

The boy gave her a confused look. "Explain, please," he demanded simply.

Magusa gave another pitiful sigh. "When I fought Suta, we made a deal that the winner would get you."

At first, Hari was surprised. They were that determined to have him to themselves? Then, it turned into anger. How could they gamble away _his_ rights to see each of them? They couldn't just choose that for him!

"What makes you think he can choose who I hang out with?"

The girl looked up at him in shock. Slowly, she realized what that meant. "You mean, you still want to spend time with me?" she asked with cautious hope.

He smiled at her. "Of course I do. I like you, Magusa-chan, and I spend time with the people I like. No one else can choose who that is."

The blonde's visage brightened visibly. In less than a second, she had her arms wrapped around his waist and her lips on his temple, kissing above his mask where she could touch skin. Then, she rested her head on the shoulder without spikes. "Thank you, Hari-kun."

Clearly blushing, but managing to maintain composure, he smirked down at her. "And here I thought you didn't even know my real name."

Magusa slapped him playfully on his chest before returning to her position on his shoulder. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, the blonde content to simply hold him and the male genin happy to let her.

Eventually, Hari glanced down at her. "If you ever gamble your rights to spend time with me again, I _will_ dump you."

Magusa only chuckled.

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It was past midnight and cloudy, so nearly completely dark outside. Hotaru stared through the window at her new sensei's sleeping form, barely visible it was so dark out. His wife was apparently working late because she wasn't laying next to him.

Frankly, she was lucky the pair liked living outside of the clan compound, or it would have been nearly impossible to get even this close.

Hotaru crept up to the window, taking care to make no noise in the movement. She was determined to get her wallet back, damn it, even if she had to resort to such methods as this. She had paid for his lunches for too long! He had probably already used half of her savings! She shouldn't be paying him for teaching her, if you could even call it that. It was his duty to do so!

Instead, he had stolen her wallet and used her money to pay for his ramen day after day. She scowled, reaching for the window. She pushed the glass open and slid in silently. She glanced back at the man and found him still laying down, as she couldn't see much past his basic form, so she assumed he was still asleep.

Hotaru carefully tiptoed through the room, looking around in the dim light. However, she was having an extremely difficult time recognizing anything and even seeing some objects. She frowned in annoyance. It looked like she would have to use something that would put even more risk in waking him up. She reached into a her red tanktop and pulled out a tiny flashlight. Aiming it at the ground, so as to create as little light on Her new sensei's face as possible, she turned it on, shining it brightly on the ground a foot in front of her.

Now with slightly better light, she rotated around to look around the room again-

-And instinctively hopped back when she found another human form in the corner of the room, hidden from what little light was coming through the window. She automatically brought the flashlight up to identify the person, only to find the orange and black clothes of her teacher. Hotaru stared in shock at the second blonde jounin, who only grinned at her.

When the still-sleeping Naruto groaned, she realized she was shining light almost directly on his face and lowered the flashlight. The other Naruto chuckled softly. "Ya know, I could have you charged with trespassing," he whispered.

Hotaru scowled at him, though she doubted he could see it. "And I could have you charged with theft," she whispered back harshly.

She saw Naruto's form shake its head. "I'm sure once the Hokage heard the reason behind it, she would pardon me."

Hotaru gritted her teeth, finding it unlikely that there even _was_ a reason. "You're just a clone, anyway," she whispered back, attempting to calm herself down.

"Hai, but I'm still more than enough to stop you from finding your wallet."

Hotaru scowled, acknowledging the truth in that statement, especially without waking the real one. There went the idea of snatching it while Naruto slept. She saw the clone motion to the still open window, silently telling her to kindly leave. Resigned, the girl started toward the way she had come in.

"Does he always make a clone while he sleeps?" she asked in a whisper as she passed the Naruto in the corner.

She saw the form shrug out of the corner of her eye. "It's a habit."

Cursing under her breath, Hotaru jumped out the window. She turned back to find two more clones that she hadn't seen come out of the shadows and close the window. Her eyes widened. There went any chance of getting her wallet back through stealth.

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Hari approached his usual training ground the following day with a noticeable amount of dread. He knew he probably could have scored with Magusa the previous day and that his sensei had been expecting it. The boy hadn't wanted to do such a thing with the Mist kunoichi; she already seemed too attached to him anyway. He just wasn't used to having someone care about him like that, being an orphan, and he certainly didn't want to risk that over carnal pleasures that he, in all honesty, wasn't sure he was ready for.

Now, he only wondered whether Jiraiya would understand that and forgive him. He walked into the clearing around the stream and walked directly toward the set of bushes that he knew his teacher would be sitting in, more than likely waiting for any hot girls to start swimming in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall on the other side. The man was crouched there, writing on a notepad.

"Hey, sensei," Hari greeted nervously.

"Hello, kid," said Jiraiya, his voice surprisingly light. Hari raised an eyebrow at the man's back. "Ya know," continued the Sannin in a conversational tone. "I'm disappointed you didn't get any last night." He paused, sensing the boy looking down at the ground in shame. "But I must say, you did a good job of setting up for future encounters."

Hari looked up at him in surprise. The old man still hadn't turned around to look at him. "I did?"

"Oh yeah. It gave me some great inspiration." He giggled perversely. "Of course, I edited things a bit, so that it came out with a happy ending."

The green haired genin rolled his eyes. "Well, you're welcome, sensei."

Jiraiya glanced up at him. "By the way, you have a visitor again today."

"I do?" he asked in confusion. He spun around to view the empty clearing. "I don't-"

The Toad Sannin interrupted him. "I'm sure he'll show up if you go out there."

The masked genin stared at him a moment. "Um…Okay…I guess I'll see you later, Jiraiya-sensei." The old man gave him a brief wave over his shoulder. Hari walked carefully back out into the clearing he had been using to train. He barely sensed a presence to his right before he was tackled to the ground.

"Hari-nii-chan!"

The green haired boy let out an "Ooph," as he landed. He groaned, glaring at the childish form kneeling over him. "Is that really necessary, Suta-kun?"

The Cloud nin grinned. "Of course!"

Hari sighed, pushing his companion off of him so he could sit up. "So what's up?" he asked casually.

Suta continued grinning. "I want ta hang out!"

The Leaf nin scoffed, unable to believe he had heard correctly. "You want to hang out, during the month between exams?"

Suta didn't react to the incredulous tone. Instead, he remained just as enthusiastic. "Yeah!"

Hari stared at him doubtfully. "Don't you need to train? Ya know, to be at your best when we compete in a few weeks."

The Kumo shinobi shrugged. "Neh. I'm confident I can put on a good enough show as I am." He hopped to his feet, bouncing around excitedly. "I'm sure you can too! So let's spend some time together!"

The masked genin stared at his companion with a frown. How could he think he could go without training with the competition they had? "Suta-kun…I need to train, whether you do or not."

The boy moaned pathetically. "But with your ingenious strategies, you should have no problem beating anyone!"

Hari hardened his gaze at the young boy. "Look, Suta, first, you try to prevent a girl that I consider one of my closest friend from seeing me."

"Wait. She's been here?" he asked, scowling.

Hari ignored the question. "Then, you proceed to nearly kill that same girl. Now, you come out here trying to pull me away from my training, something I _know_ I need to do, just to 'hang out'." He paused to let all that sink in. He continued with only mild remorse. "I'm sorry, Suta, but at this point, you're not in particularly good standing with me."

The brown haired genin stared at him in shock. Hari stood up and walked back toward his sensei, leaving Suta to ponder his words. By the time he returned a few minutes later to resume training, the Kumo genin was gone.

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A fairly thin man, dressed in half-destroyed, dirty clothes with a damaged sword at his waist, walked through a camp of gruff men who were wearing similar outfits, his brown hair unkempt and hanging around his shoulders. He glanced around, ignoring many of the crude conversations going on nearby. He shook his head in disdain.

"_How can Satosuke-sama take such a rag-tag group into Konoha?"_ he wondered silently. He still wasn't _sure_ they were headed to the Hidden Village, but it was the only conclusion he could come to based on the route they were taking. It seemed so stupid to attempt to raid such a large and powerful village with this pathetic group of bandits. It was a suicide mission. Yet, given their present leader, Satosuke's, proven insanity, it wasn't too out of the ordinary for them to attempt it.

The man sighed in irritation. He hadn't even wanted to be a bandit; he had been forced to join at the tender age of thirteen or be killed, like the rest of his family had been. It certainly wasn't a great life, but at least he _was_ alive. In the process, he tried to keep as many of the people they raided alive as possible, preventing his companions from just slaughtering them as they would prefer.

"Aero!" The thin man turned at his name. "It's your turn with one of the bitches!" called a man standing near the entrance to one of the tents.

Aero nodded, walking up to the man. Ignoring the man, he strode right into the tent, having long since learned that politeness was lost on these brutes. Moving based on the sounds of grunts and screams, he entered the one curtained off room that only had one person in it. He found a woman, with clothing nearly ripped from her body, curled up in a corner. The lady cringed away from him when he entered.

Aero sighed, closing the flap entrance and sitting on the ground so that he was guarding the entrance. "Calm down, woman. I'm not going to touch you." The lady looked up, clearly incredulous but hopeful. Aero realized then just how beautiful she was, with raven hair framing a mildly tanned face and a nearly perfect figure; she couldn't have been past her early twenties. Before he could be caught staring, he took off his dirt-covered over shirt and tossed it to her. "Here, put this on."

The woman caught the item with a surprised look. Aero hated that she had been treated so badly by these thugs, but could do little more than make her feel comfortable around him. Hesitantly, the black haired lady put on his worn top with a murmured "Arigatou."

The brown haired bandit waited patiently for her to compose herself. When she finally did, she looked up at him in confusion. "Why are you doing this?"

The thin man regarded her blankly. "Because I'm not like the rest of those monsters." She seemed surprised, again, by his view of his companions. "Name's Aero. You are?" The half nude woman smiled weakly at him.

"Tina."

Aero attempted to smile back, uncomfortable with the expression after being with the group of bandits for nearly eight years. "It's nice to meet you." The long unused phrase rolled off his tongue with measurable enthusiasm. It had been a good while since he had gotten to use it.

The two made small talk as best they could, which was admittedly not that well, for a while, with Aero attempting to give the woman a nicer memory than the ones she'd no doubt been receiving for the past few weeks. They were interrupted by another man, stopping just outside the door.

"Hurry up, Aero. There are other guys that want a turn, too!"

Aero snarled viciously, a sound that was odd coming from his thin frame, spinning toward the door. "I'll leave when I'm done, bastard!"

He heard the man outside yelp and dart off. Aero snickered, looking back at the woman next to him, who was staring at him wide-eyed. He scratched above his ear in a sheepish gesture. "Gomen," he said softly. "But I'm trying to stall as long as I can to keep you out of the others' clutches."

"Oh." She looked down in embarrassment. "Arigatou."

Aero sighed. "Unfortunately, I can't stay too much longer without raising the ire of my boss."

"Oh," she said again, this time with sadness in her voice. He rose to leave, but was stopped by a grip on his wrist. He turned to view Tina curiously as she brought his hand up to her lips, just letting it rest there. "Arigatou," she muttered again. "For everything." Then, she let go and started to take off the shirt he had given her to begin with.

Aero shook his head. "No, keep it," he interrupted her, gripping her wrist. "Just take it off before the next session."

She let go of the article. "Arigatou."

He smiled down at her and she smiled back. Then, he turned to leave before the others started to suspect he was doing something other than ravaging her, knowing he'd never get his shirt back intact. He vowed, once more, that if the opportunity ever arose without him risking his life needlessly, he would find a way to free those women.


	33. Between Exams

((Had some difficulty getting this chapter started…It actually almost made me late. It's unbeta-ed, but I feel confident enough to post it. If Rfatw finds any mistakes, I can just correct them and repost it next week. It shouldn't be anything major enough to take note of though, so no worries. But still, I dunno how well it turned out.

**Disclaimer**: SacredStoneFury: *glares at rinfanalltheway* I can't believe you managed to blow up the entire kitchen with just a _bag of chips_. It took a month to clean up!

Rfatw: Yeah, well, it takes a certain level of skill to pull something like that off. *grins*

SSF: You're lucky I don't own Naruto or I'd have Anko torture and kill you in your sleep.

Rfatw: You couldn't do that to your BETA.

SSF: You wanna bet?

Rfatw: Er…Heh heh…Let's get to that chapter now.

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**Between Exams**

Katame fell onto her rear again, bleeding from an innumerable number of cuts along her body. Her new sensei scowled down at her.

"Come on, shrimp, get up. This is nothing. I endured ten times this pain at your age."

The blue haired girl stared up at her blankly, slowly, and painfully, getting to her feet. "Hai, Anko-sensei."

Anko grinned down at her. "Good," she purred, preparing to charge once more. "Now, let's resume. Your taijutsu is still pathetic."

Katame dropped into a defensive stance silently, her body screaming with the action. The purple haired jounin rushed forward at a speed the genin could barely follow. The girl only managed to dodge two kunai swipes before she took a punch to the gut. She went down again, hard.

"You can do better than that, brat." The elder kunoichi watched as her student tried to get up but couldn't complete the action. Katame collapsed on her stomach, exhaustion and pain mixed on her face. Anko approached her and glowered down at her. "You'd better not make me carry you to the hospital, maggot."

Katame rolled onto her back tiredly. "Just…gimme fifteen minutes," she murmured.

The jounin grinned down at her. "That's the spirit. I'll show you some of my ninjutsu as soon as you can move."

The blue haired genin lifted her head weakly. "Go ahead," she stated between pants. At Anko's amused look, she continued. "I am still capable of watching."

Anko grinned. "Good to see such determination, kid. Now, watch closely."

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Taka watched from her hiding place as the bandits went about their camp, doing various vulgar acts as they did what little chores they had. It was sad, really; the group had only traveled six hours during the course of the whole day and had moved at a relatively slow pace. If they were supposed to be going to Konoha, they would have to pick up the pace, but it would be more than possible.

Beside her was the rest of the team, observing the camp alongside her. They all remained as quiet as possible, though it was hardly necessary with the racket being made inside the bandit camp. It was truly disgusting to watch the goings on in the group.

The redhead was glad when Kiba-sensei motioned for the team to end the scouting session. They jumped back through the trees about a mile before they finally reconvened.

Kiba chuckled as soon as everyone arrived. "Those are bandits, alright, and poorly organized ones at that."

"Hai," agreed Aitaro. "Don't even seem to have a ninja leading them, like I've seen before."

"That ought to make things easy," commented Tounyo lightly. Taka didn't even bother to look at him. She still hadn't been able to reconcile her feelings for him.

"I vote we wait til night-time and then rush in and raid the place," recommended Koukatsu seriously.

Kiba shook his head. "No, I don't want to risk anyone getting injured like that. We'll observe for a few days and set up an ambush."

Taka groaned. "_Days_? Couldn't we do that in a few hours?"

Aitaro smirked sideways at her. "I suppose you want to guess where all of the bandits will be later tonight then?"

The Koudoukou scowled at him. Kiba ignored the comment. "A few days will give us ample time to find their habits, see who stays up late, who we need to target to produce the best results with the least risk. It's the best way to accomplish this mission."

Taka heard Tounyo sigh and couldn't help but agree. This was going to be a giant pain in the ass. She had enough difficulty staying quiet for a few hours. A few _days_ was going to drive her insane.

"Me and Tounyo will take first shift, Aitaro and Taka second, and me and Koukatsu third." Everyone nodded in acceptance. "Everyone else, try to get some rest until we come wake you up. In the morning, we'll share our observations and repeat the process again tomorrow. Everyone agree?" Everyone nodded again, though Taka did so with some reluctance.

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Hari looked around from where he hid behind a thick tree trunk. He could see his sensei observing from his spot in their typical training area, but he couldn't find his teammate. The girl had disappeared the moment they had begun sparring with a substitution and had yet to do more than throw a kunai at him. It was incredibly frustrating, even more so because he _used_ to be able to locate her before they had started the training for the chuunin exam finals. The difficulty was incredibly annoying.

He blocked another thrown kunai with one of his own and hopped to a different tree. He really didn't want to use his new jutsu in front of her, even if they were teammates, because they could end up fighting each other in the tournament. He wanted all the advantages he could get. Katame seemed to be thinking along similar lines as she hadn't used any jutsu at all yet.

Hari caught a brief glimpse of light blue among the leaves above him and immediately darted after it. Landing on a thick branch, he glanced around and found his blue haired teammate standing on a nearby branch staring back. Clearly, she knew she had been seen.

The green haired genin leapt at her, knowing her weakest area was taijutsu. She shifted out of the way on the branch and swung back. Hari landed and ducked the blow awkwardly. He retaliated with another punch, which grazed off Katame's shoulder. As he dodged the next counter, he realized just how difficult it was to fight in the treetops. Scowling, he went to sweep the girl's legs out from under her.

Katame just jumped towards an adjacent branch. Hari put on a burst of speed and managed to catch up to her before she could land. Taking advantage of her inability to change directions midair, he lashed out with two quick, soft jabs, meant to let her know that he could have dealt serious damage, only one of which she managed to deflect. She gave a soft grunt in acknowledgement.

The pair landed, and Hari hopped back to give them both room. He grinned softly, which was met by Katame's ever emotionless stare. He was glad they had decided to spar once a week during their month of training. It was a nice break from Jiraiya, despite how much the boy looked up to the Sannin, and gave him a great chance to keep his taijutsu, something hardly touched by his new sensei, up to snuff.

Grin still in place, Hari rushed along the branch to engage Katame once more.

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"They still haven't made any move to attempt to kidnap Hinashin-chan," reported Hanabi with only mild concern.

Hinata stood up from behind her desk, one of the few places in the Hyuuga compound that she visited regularly, with a worried sigh. "Hiroshi-san did say that they had just started planning it about a month ago, so perhaps they just haven't had the time to prepare the mission."

Hanabi nodded. "If they are trying to make the attempt go perfectly, then that would be a reasonable assumption."

Hinata began pacing back and forth behind her desk. "It's unfortunate that the leaders of the Council have been planning this behind closed doors. Hiroshi has been unable to tell us anything at all. It's incredibly frustrating."

Even though she didn't say anything, Hinata could tell her younger sister agreed silently.

"Knock, knock." The two looked toward the door to find Naruto grinning at them. Hinata's face lit up happily upon seeing her husband.

"Naruto!"

Still grinning, Naruto walked to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her lightly on the lips. Hanabi observed this with a raised eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be training someone, Naruto?" she asked with some amusement.

The blond jounin waved the comment off. "I've got a shadow clone taking care of it."

"But, Naruto, isn't that neglect?" questioned his wife in worry. She had seen what the Hokage could do when angered and knew that Naruto was a regular target of that emotion with her.

Naruto shook his head, unconcerned. "I'm accomplishing what Hotaru needs. I don't necessarily have to be there in person to train her."

Hanabi shook her head. "You never cease to amaze me, Naruto-kun." The jinchuuriki grinned at her. "I'll leave the two of you alone then," she stated, turning toward the door. "Enjoy yourselves."

Hinata blushed at the implication while Naruto chuckled. He turned to her and kissed her again, this time more forcefully. When she pulled back, he raised an eyebrow in confusion. Normally, she let him decide when to quit, basically following his lead. He laid his forehead against hers.

"What's wrong, dear?"

Hinata turned her head slightly so that she was looking slightly away from him. "I'm worried about Hinashin."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through her hair comfortingly. "She's perfectly safe, Hinata. Anytime she's training, she's got Konohamaru looking over her, and you know he's more than capable. Anytime she's not, she's got Hanabi watching her, who's more than capable of taking on just about anyone in the clan, except yourself or Neji. She could hardly be any safer." He ended by nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

She sighed, turning back to face him. "I know, but I can't help it."

Naruto grinned at her again. "How 'bout I help distract you then."

Hinata giggled as he licked her cheek impishly. "Shouldn't we both be working?" she asked without any real conviction.

"Oh, but we are." Hinata raised an eyebrow at his grinning visage. He made a quick hand seal and there was another Naruto next to them. As the first one put his arm back around his wife's waist, the second made another seal and transformed into Hinata. Putting on his best serious face, he walked around the desk and sat down to start on some paperwork. "See?"

Hinata giggled again, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face against his chest. "Of course."

With a grin, he lifted her bridal style and disappeared in a Shunshin.

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Katame ran through the set of seals for her next genjutsu. Across the clearing, Shino stared blankly at her, waiting. She cast the illusion and watched her original teacher's reaction. He looked around with a calm curiosity that showed his ever calculating personality.

"Good," he commented. "If I didn't have my kikai bugs, I would believe this was real." With a quick chakra pulse, he dismissed the jutsu. The pair proceeded as such. Katame would use would of her new genjutsu techniques and Shino would analyze it. They had less than a day a week together, as the morning was spent with Katame sparring Hari and Shino spent the night training Hari; doing what Katame didn't know.

In the meantime, she would take the opportunity to perfect her jutsu. After all, if she could trick her sensei and his bugs, who _wouldn't_ fall for her illusions?

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A young teen with soft blue hair went through hand seals with a single kunai sticking out below his enclosed hands. He finished them and concentrated his chakra. The boy scowled when nothing happened.

"Subaya-sensei, what am I doing wrong?" he demanded in irritation.

The old, bald man sighed, shaking his head where he sat against one of the few trees. "I already told you, Sokudo-kun, I don't know. The jutsu is different for each person _and_ each weapon."

Sokudo kicked a nearby pebble in the clearing at the base of the mountain they were near. They had traveled until they were near the Earth country border, making absolutely sure that no one from the exams would follow them in order to watch Sokudo's techniques.

"I'm about to just give up on this jutsu and use the abilities I already know," the boy hissed violently, his frustration showing through clearly.

Subaya stared down at him sternly. "You know you can't do that. Your favorite moves won't work on some of the remaining contestants. Are you willing to risk fighting them in the first round and being unable to show your abilities to the judges."

Sokudo snarled in annoyance, knowing that the statement was true. He _had_ to complete this jutsu. If he fought the Hyuuga or either of the other Mist nin, who he knew could fight well in heavy mist, he would be in trouble.

With a disgruntled sigh, he turned around. "I hate this jutsu," he muttered.

Subaya chuckled, getting comfortable against the tree behind him. "You'll learn to love it, I'm sure."

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Hari stood as still as possible on the branch he was hiding on. His form was invisible when viewed from any angle, having finally mastered Jiraiya's spying jutsu. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to get it so that he could maintain the technique while moving.

Instead, he was forced to watch with bated breath as Shino attempted to find him. This was how they spent the night after sparring with Katame.

Hari stiffened slightly when his sensei appeared on the forest floor in his line of sight. He tried not to move, focusing as much energy as he could into the jutsu.

Shino looked around, his glasses preventing Hari from knowing exactly what he viewed. Then, a bug flew in front of the jounin. Shino held out a hand to allow the bug to land and began talking to it. Hari had to repress a shudder at the action; he still hadn't gotten over that fear of bugs.

Soon, Shino's head turned toward his student. Hari's breath caught in his throat as his teacher hopped up to the branch with him. He held his breath as the jounin landed in front of him. Shino bent over so that his face was only inches from his student's. Hari felt his gaze on him, praying that he wouldn't be visible.

After few minutes, Shino stood up, nodding. "Effective. There is only a shimmer of incorrect light every half minute or so that would only be caught under intense scrutiny."

Hari sighed, letting the jutsu dropped. "So I'm not completely invisible?"

Shino shook his head. "However, you should be able to avoid nearly any patrols, especially if you hide in darkness to prevent your shadow from giving you away."

Hari smiled softly at the mild mannered praise. "Arigatou."

Shino tilted his head slightly. "Were there any other techniques you wanted me to evaluate?"

Hari shook his head. "Nah, just wanted to practice my trap setting. Haven't had much of a chance with Jiraiya-sensei."

The bug user nodded. "Very well. I shall let you set up then." Hari nodded, already planning out circumstances that could use his trapping skills.

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Laughter flowed out of the only shinobi bar in Konoha at the base of the Hokage tower. Most nights, this wasn't unusual, but when you took into account that it was three in the afternoon, the sound was a bit strange. It was attracting some mild attention.

Of course, the pair making it didn't care.

Hitayio looked at his companion, still laughing, cradling his beer in his hand. "I can't believe I never thought of this! This is awesome!"

Kizui grinned back. "I know, isn't it!? It's great being considered an adult because of our job!"

"No kidding!" Hitayio chuckled, chugging his drink. A second later, Kizui joined him in the action.

Across from them, Rei shook her head. "I can't believe they're doing this," she sighed.

The blond girl beside her nodded in agreement. "What a pain," muttered Taru. She took a sip of her water in an attempt to distract herself. Rei snorted as the two opposite her continued to drink the alcohol that she felt shouldn't even be allowed to them, trying to enjoy her milk.

Less than twenty minutes later, Kizui hopped onto the table. "Can I get some music?"

Rei brought a hand up to her head. "Oh, Kami. How did we get dragged into this?"

Taru watched as Hitayio joined her teammate atop the table. "We had nothing better to do." She glanced sideways as the barkeep brought out a small radio, turning it to a soft rock station. Somehow, Kizui managed to sing vaguely along with it. The noise was rather slurred and well out of tune. Not long after, Hitayio caught on and began taking part in the raucous song.

Rei glared at the pair, cradling her milk to her chest to protect it from their wandering feet. "I can't believe they really got drunk."

Taru stared up at the pair, guarding her own drink. Suddenly, part of the half-full beer in Kizui's hand spilled over onto her lap. The blonde glared mildly at the wet stain on her black pants. "What a pain," she murmured irritably.

Rei scowled as the two males put their arms around each other's shoulders, starting to dance sloppily on the table. "Morons," she snarled.

Kizui and Hitayio simply ignored the two of them, enjoying themselves to the fullest.

Taru simply shook her head. This was going to be a long, _long_ day.


	34. Bandit Raid

((I rather like this chapter. It gets back to the part I like writing the most: the missions.

Before we begin, I would like to forewarn my readers. There will be no chapter next week because I am going to a family reunion that will probably be about six days long…Joy…I apologize in advance.

**Disclaimer:** I am not an artist, in the least. As such, there is no way I could draw the beautiful pictures in the Naruto manga. This, unfortunately, means that I don't own Naruto…Dang…

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**Bandit Raid**

"Yo, up and at 'em, kid." Tounyo opened his eyes at the voice, sitting up. At the entrance to the tent was Kaji Aitaro, looking like he, himself, had only just gotten up. "Kiba-san wants everyone around the campfire to discuss tactics."

"Hai." Aitaro nodded and turned, leaving the young genin to wake up on his own. Tounyo stretched before standing up, clothed only in some light pants and underwear. He quickly put his clothes on and grabbed a ration bar, not a particularly tasty breakfast, but one that would give him the energy he would need for the day.

Stepping out of the quick-made tent, he found the rest of the group already waiting for him in a circle. Though there was no true 'campfire' since it was too likely to draw attention, Kiba liked to use the term, as Tounyo had learned. He silently took his seat next to Aitaro, sighing when he found that Taka _still_ wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Alright, I think we've done enough surveillance," said Kiba lightly, his voice showing surprising energy, despite having gotten the least sleep of any of them there. Beside him, Akamaru barked in agreement. "Let's share what we've found and work on a plan to disrupt this little mission of theirs."

"Oh yes," began Aitaro sarcastically. "They've done so much different throughout the night."

Kiba chuckled. "I suppose they are rather predictable."

"They hardly do anything once they've set up camp," interjected Koukatsu with some disgust. "They don't even have patrols. The only thing they guard is the woman's tent." The group collectively scowled, having seen the beautiful but clearly exhausted and ravaged women that they dragged along, Taka with especial loathing.

"They're not very organized," commented Taka, still with revulsion in her voice.

"But they do listen to their leader," concluded Kiba. "He's always the first to know of new information and the only one that makes decisions. If we can make him panic, the rest of them will as well. Then, they would be easy-pickings."

"Any ideas?" inquired the Kaji. The group fell silent for a few minutes as they thought about the possibilities.

Eventually, Koukatsu spoke. "I think I might have an idea…"

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A young, plain-faced man wearing dark sunglasses walked with an arrogant gait into the recently set up bandit encampment, flanked by two muscular men. His heavy clothes covered much of his pale skin, hiding even his hands in their long sleeves. He was almost immediately surrounded by no less than five bandits, all with weapons pointed at him, giving him a wide berth just to be cautious.

"What do you want?" demanded one of the bandits.

The plain-faced man grinned menacingly. "Only to see your boss. Now, out of the way. I don't have time for you wimps."

One of the bandits in front of him stepped deliberately into the way, pointing his sword's point at the man's face. "You've got it all wrong, jackass. It's _you_ pathetic bastards that _our_ boss doesn't have time for. Instead, you've earned yourselves a gutting on our swords."

Before the bandit could even begin a swing, one of the bodyguards stepped between the two, the other stepping behind his boss to cover the rear. "You'll not touch him," snarled the first guard, scowling down at the bandit.

The bandit sneered at him. "Says you!" Without any more warning, the bandit swung at both bodyguard and employer. With surprising quickness, the muscular guard raised an arm and caught the hand holding the oncoming sword and lashed out with a jab to the neck that sent the bandit flying back, unconscious. The other bandits took a step back.

One of the other bandits scowled at them. "Do you really think you can take on all of us?" he asked, indicating the entire encampment. "You don't even have any weapons!"

The plain-faced man adjusted his sunglasses arrogantly before folding his arms in his sleeves in front of him. "These men don't _need_ weapons. That's why they're my bodyguards." Then, reluctantly, he sighed. "But we would be forced to retreat if you were to all attack us. However, I believe I have a proposition that your boss would want to hear."

The bandit's eyes narrowed. Then, he glanced at his unconscious companion nervously. He grunted a vague assent, lowering his weapon. The other bandits quickly followed suit. "Follow me."

The two bodyguards returned to flanking their boss as they were led to the center of the encampment. When they reached the boss's tent, the bandit held out a hand. "Wait here a moment." The plain-faced man nodded. The bandit went inside to supposedly warn his boss. The trio of newcomers heard murmurings inside but couldn't quite tell what was being said.

A minute later, the bandit returned. "You can take one bodyguard with you. The other stays here with me." The plain-faced man nodded and entered the tent, motioning the larger of the two guards, the one who had knocked out the first bandit, in after him.

The plain-faced man looked around upon walking in. It was a surprisingly simple tent with only a small cot and a desk, behind which the bald, well-built boss of the surrounding bandits sat. There was one guard standing behind the bandit boss, giving the pair that had just entered a surly look.

The plain-faced man strode over and stopped in front of the dangerous duo, arms crossed. He and the bandit leader appraised each other for a moment. Then, the bandit leader dropped his eyes to the desk in front of him.

"You don't look very strong," he commented lightly. "Tell me, why should I listen to you?"

The man gave an arrogant smirk. "I don't have to be strong. I find and plan my group's raids. Without me, they wouldn't have had nearly the success they have achieved so far." He paused, staring down fiercely at the bandit leader. "For that reason, the group I lead listens to me."

He paused to gauge the other man's response. The bandit leader looked intrigued but little more. "What do you have planned?"

The plain-faced man grinned. "I propose my group of underlings join yours in the sacking of Konoha."

The bandit leader laughed. "I don't know about yours, but my men aren't exactly made for working together. They would rip your men apart."

The plain-faced man smirked. "You mean like they ripped _me_ apart? They didn't even get past my bodyguards."

The bald man gave him an amused look. "And what do I get out of this arrangement?"

The smirk remained planted on the other leader's face. "You get assistance against the most powerful of the Hidden Villages. In addition, I can plan the assault in a way that Konoha would never expect to make it dangerously efficient."

"Oh? And what proof do I have of your supposed skills?"

"Have you heard of the raid of Jaronton?"

The bald man's eyes widened. That was one of the most famous bandit attacks in Hi no Kuni (Fire Country). There had been practically nothing left of a village of nearly a thousand, the place raided and then torched. There had been rumors immediately following that the attacking bandits had been caught, but someone _that_ good couldn't have been caught.

The bandit leader shook his head. "But that was nearly three years ago," he whispered.

The plain-faced man smiled. "Aye. We sat on the earnings from that raid ever since. We've been living rather well. But when my men heard about an attack headed towards Konoha, they decided that they wanted in." His voice lit up with excitement. "If this succeeds, _all_ of us will be living like kings for the rest of our lives. Thus, I am here to negotiate our participation." As he spoke, his hands shifted slightly in the sleeves held in front of him.

The bald man looked thoughtful, an unusual look on such a broad and muscled man. "Hm…How much is your group wanting out of this?" he asked, ignoring the movement of the other man's supposedly clenched hands.

"We were thinking 60-40."

The bandit leader's eyes narrowed. "80-20."

"70-30."

"75-25."

The plain-faced man reached up and pulled the sunglasses from his face, bright red eyes narrowed in consideration. The two men's eyes met and then the plain-faced man smiled. "Deal," he announced, reaching a hand out.

The bandit leader shook the offered hand. "Hai." He released the hand and relaxed in his seat. "Have your men meet mine in two days on the road. I'm sure you can manage to intercept us by then."

"Aye." The plain-faced man glanced up and met the gaze of the bandit guarding the tent. Then, he nodded and turned silently toward the exit. As he walked out, the other bodyguard began walking along with them. They led themselves out of the encampment and started down the road, ignoring the gazes of the curious and suspicious bandits behind them.

They traveled for well over a mile before they finally relaxed their guard, sensing no one following them. Still, they leapt into the trees before they released their transformations, the leader turning into Koukatsu while his two bodyguards became Kiba and Aitaro.

"You got him under the genjutsu?" asked Aitaro.

The Uchiha smirked. "And the guard."

Kiba chuckled. "I didn't know you were such a good actor, Koukatsu-kun. Not only did you act the part, but you managed to do the necessary hand seals subtly. You almost had _me_ fooled."

"I _am_ an Uchiha."

"But, I must know, Koukatsu-kun," continued Kiba light-heartedly. "How did you know that it was safe to assume the identity of the bandits that attacked Jaronton?"

The genin smirked. "My dad was part of the team that caught the group. He had told me not to tell anyone that we had them, so I assumed few people knew that they were arrested, so it seemed like a safe bet."

Kiba grinned at him. "Good call, kid."

"Now everything is set up for the next part of the plan," smirked Koukatsu.

"We should probably go check on our two love birds; make sure they haven't killed each other," interrupted Aitaro with a hint of sarcastic glee.

Koukatsu rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that, Kaji. They may be uncomfortable around each other, but they're not angry."

Now, the Kaji rolled his eyes. "Of course, Mister Mind Reader. You'd know."

Kiba chuckled softly at their spat, knowing that there wasn't any real malice behind it. "Come on, you two. Let's meet up with the rest of our team and prep for the finale."

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Later that night, the bald bandit leader sat behind his desk staring at some documents, attempting to find a target that they could attack. He looked over the map, found the most well guarded sector of town, and grinned. _That_ would be their target. Inside would be the treasures of an entire village. Treasures that they would have by the end of the assault.

It didn't matter to him that many of Konoha's top shinobi guarded it. It didn't bother him to know that many of his men wouldn't survive the attack. It simply didn't matter. It was a challenge and if his men were not up to it, they deserved to die, along with the rest of the hopeless garbage that they would kill in the process.

The man looked up at his guard's startled gasp. Following the other man's gaze, he found a large, vicious-looking, three-headed wolf. The creature snarled at them as the bandit leader stood up, reaching for a large axe at his side. The wolf was somehow at the back of the tent without touching anything inside of it; there wasn't even a hole ripped in the tent wall.

It was an obvious conclusion, but the thought barely crossed the insane bald man's mind. To him, it was simply a creature that deserved to be annihilated. He pulled his axe up to his shoulder and prepared to charge.

Before he could even take a step, the wolf darted at him, lashing out with three curved claws. The bald man tried to halt his swing and step aside, but he still felt the claws dig into his side. Pain shot through him as he stumbled toward the tent entrance. Behind him, he heard the guard cry out in agony and a body hit the floor.

The bandit leader realized then that he didn't want to die, despite his lack of concern for his subordinates' safety. He pushed himself up and hobbled out of the tent, clutching at his wounded side. "Grab your weapons, men! I need help!" he hollered to the surrounding bandits. They immediately did as told and stood to come to his aid, though many looked fearful as they had never seen anything strong enough to frighten their leader.

The bald man spun to look at the tent. Almost immediately, the three-headed wolf lunged from within, darting straight at him. His eyes widening in terror, the large man turned back around, running with all the speed he possessed. Around him, the men stared in clear confusion. This only increased their boss's horror.

Then, there was a resounding roar, throughout the camp. Everyone stopped, looking around in terrified confusion. Even the leader stopped in his retreat, spinning around to find the new beast. He cocked his head when he found the three-headed creature from before gone, as if it had never been there. Lifting his hand, he found that the wound it had created had similarly disappeared. Now utterly perplexed, the leader turned as he felt the ground shake slightly under him. His underlings were looking around with frightened looks in their eyes.

Then, a shadow flew over him. He looked up just in time to see an enormous two-headed dog land in the exact center of the bandit camp. Both heads roared ferociously, sending a shockwave through the camp. The leader's eyes went wide.

Almost as one, the rest of the camp dispersed, many screaming in terror as they fled. The scene became utter chaos. Upon seeing this, the bald man's eyes narrowed. Seeing the fear in his own men had brought out his barely controlled anger. _They _couldn't do such a thing while he remained in camp, and he intended to teach them so. He grabbed one of the nearby fleeing bandits by the collar, lifting him off the ground. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded furiously.

The bandit only squawked in fear, his eyes darting to the enormous dog that was now ripping apart any bandits too slow to escape. The leader threw him to the ground, _hard, _swinging his axe around to crush the man's chest in one fell swoop. "_No one_ is to leave camp unless I tell you so! Now pick up your weapons and fight back, you bastards!" he howled.

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Tounyo watched the chaos before him with a frown. There was a small group gathering across the encampment around their furious leader, apparently just as scared of their boss's wrath as of Kiba and Akamaru's monstrous two-headed form. He reached a hand up to touch the button on his headset.

"Looks like your genjutsu didn't scare him as much as you thought it would, Koukatsu-san."

His response was a soft grunt.

"Let's start cleaning things up out there," stated Aitaro seriously.

"Hai," chorused the three genin over the headset. As a bandit ran underneath the branch he sat in, Tounyo hopped down on top of him, kunai already lunging for the man's throat. With a sickening squelch, the weapon dug into its target. Tounyo gritted his teeth, temporarily sealing away his emotions. These bandits were going to attack Konoha. This was necessary.

Taking a deep breath, he withdrew the kunai, his hand wet with his opponent's blood. Ignoring it as best he could, he glanced around, looking for a new target. He quickly darted after another fleeing bandit to slay him.

They had to get as many as they could. If they had sufficient numbers, they could reconvene and continue on their way to Konoha. If they managed that, the civilians would be in danger, even if the attackers were only bandits. That couldn't be allowed.

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Aero stared in horror at the enormous beast that had invaded their camp. He knew that wasn't just any creature. He had never heard of a two-headed dog, even less so one that large. No, he knew it wasn't natural.

For him, that left only one conclusion.

Konoha had found out about them.

They had discovered their planned assault and sent their ninja to intercept them. It was the only conclusion that made sense.

He had heard that Konoha's ninja were weak because they were merciful. The beast in front of him was neither of those. Instead, Aero watched as it viciously tore apart all of the nearby bandits, blood covering its claws, as well as nearby tent walls.

Then, Aero caught sight of a young, blond haired boy on the other side of the deadly dog. His first instinct was to run around the beast and try to save the child.

But what his eyes saw in the seconds following this first impression caused him to recoil in disgust. The blond boy buried a small knife in the temple of one of the fleeing bandits. With a vicious jerk, the young boy pulled the knife free while adding to the damage on the corpse.

Aero turned away before he lost his dinner.

Konoha had sent _genin_ after them. Or at least that one had _looked_ like a genin. It was hard to tell with his destructive actions.

Maybe it was just that one that was so heartless.

Aero's eyes widened as he remembered the women. He turned toward the tent that they were kept in. Despite the chaos around it, it seemed the girls inside were too frightened of the bandits to attempt to escape, or even figure out what was going on.

And this was the perfect chance for them to get away. He started in their direction, praying to save both their lives and his own. He weaved in and out of the other bandits, ignoring their pathetic screams of terror. When he reached the tent, he slid inside as quickly as he could.

Having no doubt that the bandits had all abandoned any attempt to ravage them while their encampment was in danger, Aero shouted, "Ladies! Come out here quickly!"

Curious and fearful, they did as told, many of them with very little on their body. Recognizing who it was, the raven haired beauty, Tina, approached him, his half-destroyed shirt still covering up part of her torso. "Aero? What's going on?"

"The camp is under attack from Konoha ninja. I'm getting you all out of here while I can."

A wave of murmurs, many positive, flowed through the gathered women. "But wouldn't it be more dangerous out there now than before?" asked Tina in concern.

Aero shook his head. "Only for me. I doubt the ninja are going to attack you, and with the other idiots running for their lives, it'll be easier to get you out." He paused to look around, scowling at the ragged state that many of the ladies were in. "Grab anything you still have with you, and we'll head for the forest."

With unspoken agreement, the women went to collect any items that they had managed to hide from their captors. Less than two minutes later, they had all re-gathered at the tent entrance.

"We all ready?" Aero asked seriously. He received a round of nods in response. "Then, let's go." He stepped out first, holding open the tent flap, and pointed towards the forest on his left. "Go that way, and don't stop no matter what you see."

Most followed his instructions, so desperate to get away that they didn't even look back. However, a few looked over their shoulders and gasped in shock upon seeing the enormous dog tearing through the bandit ranks.

"It's a ninja technique," he hissed at them. "Now, _move_!" The group of stragglers quickly complied, more than willing to get away from the bandits _and_ the beast.

Just as the group was beginning to enter the forest, Aero caught sight of another bandit being slain by a thrown shuriken. Aero looked to where the throw originated to see another young ninja, this one with black hair, throwing more shuriken at yet more unsuspecting bandits. After the throw, the boy turned toward the thin bandit, and Aero's eyes met swirling red and black, causing him to flinch.

He knew those eyes by reputation.

The Sharingan, of the Uchiha clan.

Mentally praying, he called out to the young Uchiha. "Help me get these women to safety, and I'll tell you all I know!"

The boy's eyes widened in surprise, and he cocked his head to the side in consideration. Aero felt an immense wave of relief flood him when he saw the nod from the boy. He wouldn't die, and neither would any of the women in front of him. He had achieved his goal.


	35. Finishing Up

(I sincerely apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Unfortunately, since I'm going back to college in less than a week, all my friends want to hang out with me before I go. I'll try to get another chapter out on Friday, but no guarantees.)

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**Finishing Up**

Taka tried to block out the terrible scene around her. On either side of her, her genin teammates were killing bandits with kunai and shuriken. Worse, in front of her, Kiba-sensei was ripping through their ranks viciously with his claws. How could they do that? How could they simply disregard human life like that?

She scowled, moving to the next bandit with her Snake Jutsu activated. She quickly jabbed him twice and then left him to collapse a few seconds later.

Unfortunately, she could feel herself running out of chakra. She may have to join her companions in using kunai. She may have to join them in _killing_ the enemies…The thought caused her to cringe.

"Konoha ninja!" Taka immediately turned on the voice. She found the bandit leader, surrounded by a number of other brutes. "I knew it!"

Taka felt her heartbeat jump, adrenalin pumping through her even faster. She had never tried to take out a group this large before. She didn't really have any jutsu that would work in a situation like this. Plus, she was running out of chakra. This was not good.

"You three, take her out. The rest of you, go search for any more of them and kill them too."

The three indicated started toward her, dangerous sneers on their mouths. Taka cursed silently. She didn't think she had the chakra to take out three of them. With a scowl, she released her Snake technique and pulled out one of her few kunai. The bandits only smirked, drawing swords. Taka scowled at them.

As the first began to swing at her, she stepped toward him, inside his attack range. His eyes widened as he tried to pull back his attack. He was too slow; Taka had already put her kunai in his side. The redhead pulled it back out quickly, letting him fall to the ground in pain. The other two bandits stared, wide-eyed, before collecting themselves and glaring at her.

Taka took a deep breath. She was faster than them. She could do this.

This time, the two of them attacked simultaneously. The redhead allowed herself to fall back, flattening against the earth. Both blades passed over her. She vaulted back to her feet, taking some pride in the shocked looks on the bandits' faces. Before either could recover, she swiped out at the first bandit, creating a deep gash in his stomach. She followed up with a jab at the other bandit's shoulder.

Unfortunately, the man had recovered enough to try to dodge. But instead of dodging out of the way, he dodged the wrong way, causing the thrust to dig directly into his throat. Both combatants' eyes widened as the bandit began to gurgle on his own blood. In shock, Taka watched the man fall back, her hand still holding the kunai in the air as he fell. The man clutched desperately at his throat. Time was lost on the redhead as she watched the bandit slowly die, drowning on his own blood.

She had just killed a man. Her first kill. She almost laughed hysterically. She had known she would have to kill; it was part of the job description. But this was _not_ how she saw her first kill coming. She watched as he gradually quit moving.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a sharp pain biting into her side. She looked down to find an axe head buried partway into her torso.

"You will join my men in death," declared the voice of the leader behind her. With a vicious jerk, he pulled his axe free. In extreme pain, Taka stumbled forward, only barely able to maintain her footing. She put a hand on a nearby tree to help support herself and slowly turned to face her new opponent. To her surprise, he already had his axe raised, ready to decapitate her. She wouldn't be able to move in time!

"Katon: Goukakyou (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu)"

Before the bald leader could begin his strike, a large ball of flame engulfed him from the side. Taka could feel the heat waves rolling off of him as his flesh was seared. There was a cry of agony and then the man fell to a ground, a charred husk of what he used to be.

The redhead fell back against the tree and slowly let herself fall to the earth, gasping for air. A moment later, Aitaro landed in front of her protectively.

"Tounyo!" he called, directed at the side. "Get over here and treat her wounds!"

Taka put a hand on her wound, trying to stem the blood flow as she had been taught in the academy. The pain was immense, but nothing more than she had felt before. She could still function…sort of.

Tounyo landed next to the chuunin and immediately turned toward Taka. He lightly pulled her hand away from the wound and started examining it.

"I'll cover you and try to take both of your areas, but I can only do so much."

Without looking up, the medic responded. "That's more than enough, Aitaro-san."

Tounyo pulled a pack off his waist and withdrew some medical supplies. Taka's eyes widened as he pulled a small needle away from the rest of it. Quickly, he inserted some medical thread into the eye of the needle. Taka felt some pull on the tissue around the wound as he pushed the flesh together as best he could.

"This is going to hurt," he informed her. She merely nodded, letting her head lie against the tree behind her.

A second later, a wave of pain, in addition to the pain from her wound, flowed through her, causing her muscles to tense violently. Then, the pain was gone. Taka let out a relieved breath.

"Sorry," murmured Tounyo. "I've got to do it a couple more times. Think you can tough it out?"

Eyes now closed, Taka could only manage a nod, the action around her and any thoughts of her recent kill completely blocked out by the sting of her wound. She tensed again, silently cursing, as she felt the needle re-enter her injured flesh.

Before she could feel anything more, she blacked out.

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Taka awoke with a dull ache in her side. She was surprised to find herself inside a tent in a sleeping bag. Her shirt had been largely torn away, apparently to help keep it out of the way of the stitching; now it barely covered her chest. She blushed upon thinking about who would have done it; everyone else in the group was male!...

She sat up, groaning at the throbbing of her wound. She reached a hand down, pulling away the slightly bloody gauze, and found it stitched together with amazing skill, her skin almost melding over the injury.

She glanced around, noticing that it was still dark outside. Taka stood up and tried to glance around, only to feel suddenly queasy, causing her to stumble back on top of the sleeping bag. She grunted at the small wave of pain that the jarring sent through her cut.

She looked up as she heard the tent flap open. Tounyo stepped inside with a slight smile. "I thought I heard you moving around in here." He paused to walk over to her. "You alright?" he asked, not really waiting for an answer to examine her stitched wound.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, slightly lifting her arm to give him a better view of the injury, blushing a little at the attention. A moment later, Tounyo turned around and grabbed another pad of gauze. "Doesn't look to be bleeding any more but better make sure," he murmured, completely focused on his work. It reminded Taka of the way he would focus completely on the tests back in the academy.

He put the gauze on the wound, putting slight pressure on it, making Taka cringe. When he pulled it away, it had a faint line of red on it. Tounyo hummed lightly, turning around to pick up a bit of tape, which he used to apply the gauze to the injury more solidly.

When he stood back up, he gave her a concerned look. "Need anything else?" he asked, using the worried tone of a doctor.

It all made her realize that perhaps she could treat him like a friend and nothing more. She'd never noticed before how easy he made that.

"I could use some water."

Tounyo nodded, pulling out his canteen and handing it to her. As she drank, he sat down near the wall of the tent, giving an exhausted sigh.

When her dry throat was quenched, Taka glanced at the medic. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. Only about four hours."

The redhead appraised the boy beside her subtly, taking note of his weariness. "You seem tired."

"Yeah, well, I had to fight a bunch of bandits and treat you, and I still haven't had any sleep since then." At her questioning gave, he explained. "As the medic, I had to make sure no complications came up with your treatment and, since you were unconscious and couldn't let me know about anything unusual yourself, I had to come in to check on you every ten or so minutes."

"Oh." She gave him a sheepish look. "Er…Sorry."

Tounyo shrugged, waving the apology off. "No problem." Then, he yawned. "Though I see some sleep in my immediate future," he continued, chuckling lightly.

Taka looked down uncomfortably. "I don't see any in mine."

The blonde gave her a concerned look. "Why not?"

The redhead's gaze remained on the ground. "I killed a man, Tounyo-kun," she muttered, revulsion clear in her voice. "How am I supposed to deal with that?" She looked up, meeting Tounyo's eyes. "You killed, too. How do you deal with it?"

The medic turned away, eyes sad. "You can tell those weren't my first?" Taka nodded, though she doubted he needed a response. He sighed, exhaustion and sorrow clear on his face. "In all honesty, I try to throw myself into my work, prevent myself from thinking about it. But when I _do_ end up thinking along those lines, I rationalize it as best I can."

Taka tilted her head curiously. "How so?" she asked, desperate for a way to keep her own feelings from overwhelming her…again.

Tounyo sighed again, his eyes taking on a far off look. "It depends on the case. This time, I realize that the men we killed would no doubt have killed others on their way to and in Konoha, perhaps as many as two apiece. As such, in taking the lives of those brutes, I was saving even more lives, the lives of innocents."

It was silent as Taka thought about that. It made sense. It was logical, just as she would expect from Tounyo. It would probably help her a little.

But she still didn't see herself sleeping much any time soon, even if she was unusually tired right now.

Eventually, she held out the canteen, letting the blonde take it back. "Thanks, Tounyo-kun," she said, climbing back into her sleeping bag. She closed her eyes, intent on thinking.

Tounyo smiled down at her, watching the pain meds that he had given her not fifteen minutes ago taking effect. Sometimes, meds were such a blessing. "No problem, Taka-chan," he whispered, glad to finally have her back as a friend.

Quietly, he walked out of the tent and headed toward his own, yawning. He really did need to get some sleep.

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A week later found Taka lying in a hospital bed, trying to keep herself from thinking about her first kill. The pain had lessened substantially over time, but it still hurt to consider. Her moods had been relatively dark ever since the occasion. It was lucky she had been surrounded by a bunch of others who knew what she was going through and were supportive.

It helped that they had achieved their mission. There were a number of bandits who had gotten away, mostly thanks to her being incapacitated and Tounyo having to tend to her, but not enough for them to re-convene and attempt another strike. They had stopped the bandit hoard that had been marching toward Konoha.

They had even managed to save all of the women that had been taken hostage by the group and had taken a surprising number of the brutes as prisoners. One had even essentially volunteered all of the information they could want. Of course, all he had really known was the history of the group as a whole and how they tended to follow the one that could best control them through his own strength.

Taka's attention was drawn to the door as it was opened. She was surprised to see an adult head of hair entering the room. "Herrando!" Her shock turned quickly into a cold glare. "What do you want?" she asked her uncle.

The older Koudoukou made a placating gesture. "Calm down, Taka-sama." The girl's eyes widened at the honorific. "Hato was being serious when he defended you a few weeks ago. He's done a hell of a job convincing us to treat you like he thinks you should be treated, as the respected heir to our clan."

Taka was in complete shock. "And you're actually going to treat me that way? Both of you?"

Herrando nodded. "Like I said, he did one hell of a job." He paused, approaching her. "And for the record, I never held any rancor toward you. I loved my brother." He paused to stare down at her with saddened eyes. "Unfortunately, I see a lot of him in you. It hurts. I wanted to avoid that, so I didn't spend time with you." He sighed weakly. "I realize now that I was wrong. I can deal with a little bit of sadness to help you in whatever ways I can. Perhaps, it'll help me deal with the memory of him."

Taka stared at him, a slight suspicion growing in her. "What about Celeste?" she asked. She knew her suspicions were accurate when he averted his eyes.

"I doubt she ever respects you," he said sadly. He raised his gaze to meet hers. "But she won't treat you like she did in the past again. Neither me nor Tounyo will let her." Then, he grinned, his face taking on a much more upbeat image. "Now, about that training of yours."

"You're going to train me now!?" Taka demanded.

Herrando grinned. "Of course. I'll have to split my time between you and Hato, but I'll be teaching you the family jutsu in a more formal setting."

"Yatta!" shouted Taka, pumping a fist into the air.

The older Koudoukou smiled. He'd get to make up for his actions over the past ten years. Maybe, over time, he'd be forgiven for it.

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	36. Last Minute

((**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. This applies to the entire story, even the chapters that I forget to put a disclaimer in…which, lately, has been most of them .

I must apologize. This will be the last chapter for a good while since I am going back to college. My free time tends to disappear there…I'll try to write when I can, but I honestly don't see that happening much. Sorry and thanks to all those who continue to read.))

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**Last Minute**

Uppun scowled down at the village from the apartment Konoha had given them to live in for the duration of the chuunin exams. The idiots outside were going about their daily business like there was nothing going on. The only indication that the third exam was less than a week away was the influx of people at the gate.

"I still don't see why you hate everyone so much. You don't even know what village did it.

Uppun turned a glare on Sakkaku. He didn't need to be reminded of his father's death.

"That's _exactly_ why I hate everyone. That way, I _know_ I hate the ones that actually did it."

The kunoichi shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Uppun snarled, slowly letting his gaze return to where it had been. His eyes hesitated on Suta. The boy was sitting in a corner of the room, quite clearly sulking. The grappler still didn't know what his deal was. It was starting to worry him. The kid was never this quiet.

It was lucky that the two had decided not to train in hostile territory, or he may have been injured. They didn't want to give away any of their powers and didn't truly fell they _needed_ to train. They were both confident they could defeat anyone they came across, aside from the older Mist duo, which was obviously a stacked team.

Turning back to the window, the scowl became fixed on his face once more. These bastards didn't deserve to live such peaceful lives. Maybe he would get to disturb that life at some point.

But, he knew that now was not the time. He wasn't powerful enough to make the difference he wanted to. He only had to wait for the right time. Then, he would have his revenge.

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Jiheki ran around the wall of Konoha at a mild pace for a ninja, breathing heavily. His chest pounded heavily as he pushed himself as hard as he could manage. A stitch was beginning to form painfully in his side.

Suddenly, a green form skidded next to him, kicking up dust. Jiheki coughed as the air cleared, watching as the person assumed a speed even with him. Shan appeared, jogging beside the Sand nin.

"Your pace is slowing, Jiheki-kun," noted the junior green beast with a frown.

Between gasps for breath, the Suna genin spoke. "I'm doing-the best-I can-Shan-chan."

The bowl cut kunoichi gave a whoop. "Yes! Push yourself to the limits of your capabilities, and you shall become stronger!"

Jiheki moaned. "Hai…"

Shan pumped an arm in the air. "Now, let us finish our hundred laps of Konoha and then we shall spar with an intensity that has never been seen before in the Fire country!" Before another word could be spoken, the girl was gone with an insane burst of speed.

Jiheki watched the girl's shapely rear as she darted off. If only the girl wouldn't dress like that ridiculous sensei of hers, she'd be rather pretty. Hopefully, her teammates would be able to convince her to change, as he knew they were trying.

Then, what she had said finally hit the Sand nin, and he groaned. He was really beginning to regret having asked the girl and her teacher if he could train with them. The whole month had been miserably difficult. He only hoped the results were worth the effort…

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Hou Chiku observed Konoha from one of his team's apartment rooms. It was very…peaceful. The Sound Village was nothing like this. Everyone moved with a purpose, because if you didn't have a purpose there, you were as good as a dead man. Here, he could see people loitering around wherever they felt like it.

It was…odd.

Chiku heard the door open behind him and looked over his shoulder. Hason and their supposed sensei entered quietly and shut the door behind him.

"Do you think we'll be ready for the tournament?" asked Nami from her position laying on her bed. She and Chiku were sharing a room as they had only been given two, and he was the only one she trusted not to try anything.

Hason nodded seriously, walking farther into the room alongside their sensei. "It should be easy enough for you. Just go through the strategy like usual."

Chiku shook his head, turning back to the window. Sometimes it was hard talking to each other without raising any more suspicion among their hosts.

"Well, _I_ certainly can't wait for it," said their sensei, grinning. "It's going to be so _exciting_!"

Chiku could practically feel Nami rolling her eyes. "You're so childish, Zakyou."

"But that's the _fun_ of it!" exclaimed Zakyou happily, radiating energy despite his heavy clothing.

Hason interrupted before the two could start arguing again. "Nonetheless, you should be able to get it done."

Chiku went back to observing the civilians of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. In less than a week, it would be in utter chaos, for more than one reason.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hotaru scowled at a grinning Naruto. This was getting completely ridiculous. They had been at it for nearly a month, and her new sensei had yet to explain what he was trying to accomplish. It was two days before the exams restarted, for Kami's sake! It was supremely frustrating.

The genin leapt sideways, out of Naruto's line of sight. She quietly melded with the crowd. She already knew that waiting for him to let his guard down was useless, seeing as how he _never_ seemed to be caught unprepared.

Less than a minute later, she darted back out at him, making a grab at him. With hardly any effort, Naruto hopped aside. Hotaru tossed a kunai after him. The jounin frowned, clearly disappointed that she would do such a thing with so many innocents nearby. He pulled his own kunai and blocked the attack. He looked up at her to find the genin's hands in a seal.

"_Kawarimi!"_ he realized suddenly. She appeared in front of him, already reaching for his pocket, a moment before he leapt back, evading her grasp.

Hotaru let out a violent hiss of anger. She glared at her teacher with a hate she hadn't showed anyone, _ever_. That was it. She no longer cared about the other people around them. It was just her and her sensei, and she planned to get her wallet back, by any means necessary now.

She saw him raise an eyebrow before she rejoined the crowd. Face set with grim determination, she activated her kekkei genkai. She blended with the crowd to conceal herself once more. When Naruto started acting as if he were taking a casual stroll, she rushed at him.

She was unsurprised when he dodged her first strike by hopping away. She immediately began a quick set of seals, noting the shock on Naruto's face. Their eyes met momentarily and Hotaru could tell that her sensei saw her silver irises. He grinned at her, still in mid-air, as she activate her jutsu.

"Seireigyo no Jutsu" (Spirit Control Jutsu)

The spirit of a teenage ninja appeared behind Naruto. Hotaru spun, causing the spirit to face Naruto, and reached out in an attempt to grab her sensei with her jutsu. When she felt something solid stop in her arms, she activated another jutsu.

"Keii Haji no Jutsu" (Hold Position Jutsu)

When she turned around, she was slightly shocked to find her sensei grinning from within the spirit's motionless grasp. She glared at him with a triumphant anger, approaching him. "Ha! Now, I can get my wallet back!" She smirked as she reached for the pocket that she knew he kept the offending item in.

"Look around, Hotaru-chan," said Naruto, still grinning idiotically.

The kunoichi stiffened. She had forgotten that she was surrounded by civilians. Now, they would be reminded of her deathly powers and be afraid of her again. She closed her eyes. No, she couldn't take those looks again. She couldn't…

Suddenly, she felt a supportive hand on her head. "I said, look around, Hotaru-chan."

She opened her eyes slightly to see that her jutsu had cancelled when she had lost concentration on it and that Naruto stood in front of her, giving her a sincere smile. "B-but-"

"Just do it," interrupted her sensei, beaming.

She grit her teeth. She didn't know why she still trusted this man, but something about him just glowed with honesty. Taking a deep breath and bracing for the looks of fear she would no doubt see, she scanned the surrounding people-

-And was shocked to find most of them going about their business as if nothing had happened. She saw a few curious gazes, but no one seemed afraid of her. The scene utterly baffled her.

"Congratulations, Hotaru-chan. You've passed my training in the nick of time." She felt a touch on her arm and looked over to find her wallet being held out for her.

She gave Naruto a look of complete shock, ignoring her wallet for the moment. "B-but they've seen my jutsu! Why aren't they running in terror?!" she demanded.

Naruto grinned. "We've been training around them for a month, Hotaru-chan. They know that we're ninja and that we're bound to have unusual abilities. They don't see you as a necromancer, but as a shinobi with a unique bloodline." He held the wallet up higher to make sure she took it.

She accepted the item in a bewildered state. "So, you're saying that they were only afraid of me before because they didn't know what I was?"

Naruto tilted his head. "I think it had more to do with the chaos you created and the fact that it had no discernible cause at the time."

Hotaru looked at him, completely numb. She didn't even think to ask how he knew about her past. All she could manage was a weak nod.

The blond jounin grinned at her. "Take tomorrow off and rest up for the exam. You've earned it."

"So, that's all you wanted me to do? Use my kekkei genkai in public?" asked Hotaru before he could leave.

The man chuckled. "Yup. I look forward to seeing those special techniques of yours in the tournament."

The kunoichi watched him go, still shocked. Slowly, it dawned on her. She could use her jutsu in front of people. She started to laugh hysterically. She could use her abilities in the coming fights without fear! She wouldn't scare people!

With a grin on her face, she looked at the wallet in her hand. She noticed then that the wallet didn't seem to have lost any weight. Confused, she opened it up to find a large number of bills still remaining. She counted over them quickly to find that not a single ryo was missing. She laughed lightly. That idiot had only been using his own money to pay for both of their meals at Ichiraku all month.

With her heart soaring, she started toward home. Today had made the whole month worthwhile.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Tsunade let out an exhausted sigh. This month had been one of the longest in her history as Hokage. Questions had plagued her continuously throughout the time, most of which had to do with the older Mist team and their questionable entrance into the exams. It didn't help that there had been a number of political disputes with their neighbors, as there always were. In addition, Aero had told them of how, a month ago, during the preliminary matches, an unknown man had spoken to their leader and they had started marching on the Leaf Village the next day; they still didn't know who that man was. There were also a lot of questions concerning the chuunin exams themselves.

Slowly, she stood up and walked toward the conference room. As she entered, she was greeted by the stares of the jounin sensei of the genin still in the exams, even the foreign ones. She strode towards the desk at the front of the room, scanning the room to make sure everyone was there.

"I'm glad to see that everyone could make it," she stated in her business tone. She motioned to a stack of papers on the desk. "These are the brackets for the third stage of the chuunin exams. I want each of you to take one and look it over."

Konohamaru, the sensei nearest the stack, picked it up, took one, and passed it on. In a few minutes, everyone had one. The Godaime observed them as they glanced over them, taking special note of the heavily clothed Mist teacher's large grin.

"Does anyone have any questions or complaints?" she asked calmly. All was silent around her. "Good. I expect this information not to leave this room. Please leave the brackets on the desk before you leave. Dismissed."

The crowd in front of her dispersed. Tsunade waited to make sure everyone replaced their document and left. She was surprised to find Shino put his paper down and turn toward her. "Could I have a word, Hokage-sama?"

The blonde woman nodded, waiting for the others to leave. When they were finally alone, she turned toward her trench-coat wearing companion.

"You were saying?"

"You are having my student fight one of the suspects," he observed without emotion.

"Hai." She brought a hand up to massage her temples. "I feel your student has the best chance against that particular one."

Shino nodded, agreeing with her assessment. "And the other one?"

She sighed. "I couldn't find anyone to counter the style, so I'm simply hoping to have the strongest genin there, the ones that reach the semi-finals, fight that one."

"They'll be tired at that point," the jounin noted.

Tsunade groaned. "I know. But Shikamaru felt this would come out with the best conclusion."

Shino only nodded.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rei relaxed in the public hot springs. Around her were the other Konoha genin kunoichi that had participated in the exams, as well as a few of their parents. They all settled into the springs, ready to unwind, many after a month straight of training. The hot water soothed their aching muscles and replenished their strength. Rei enjoyed the hot water immensely.

She caught sight of a small hole in the wall separating the male and female springs. Suddenly, her curiosity peaked. She had never seen a guy naked before. What would it be like?

As casually as she could, she stood up and walked toward the hole. "Where are you going, Rei-chan?"

Rei turned toward Hotaru and shook herself like a wet cat might. "I'm not sure water is the best relaxation technique for a neko-nin," she stated weakly. She always was a pretty good actor.

Hotaru frowned at her. "Taru-chan's doing just fine in the water," she noted pointedly.

Rei stuck her tongue out at her. "I guess I'm more cat-like than her."

The purple haired genin shrugged. "If you say so."

Rei turned around, scowling. She wasn't sure she liked this new, more confident Hotaru. She was a lot nosier.

She walked over to the hole in the wall and took a seat next to it. With a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching her, she looked through the hole-

-And gasped, immediately turning back around, an action that was mimicked on the other side of the wall. This drew the attention of the nearest girl, Taru. "You alright, Rei?"

Rei shook her head, collecting herself. "I'm fine. Just scared myself."

Taru raised a concerned eyebrow but spun back around anyway. Rei shifted so that she was sitting in front of the hole, giving only a view of her bare lower back.

"Hey!"

"Like I'm going to let you stare at us like that," she hissed.

Rei heard Hari snarl irritably before shifting so that he was in the same position as she was on the other side of the wall. After a few seconds, he spoke hesitantly. "What can I do to convince you to let me?"

Rei had to suppress her grin. "We each allow the other to look through for two minutes. Then, we each walk away."

Hari snorted, clearly dissatisfied with this. "Fine," he relented with distaste.

Rei grinned. "So, who's going first?"

"You," grunted the perverted genin in annoyance.

The cat nin smirked, glancing around one last time to make sure she wasn't being observed before looking through the hole.

In all honesty, it wasn't as impressive a sight as she thought it would have been. Like on the female side, it was mostly populated by genin resting for the chuunin exams and some of their teachers and parents. She could hardly see anything that she hadn't seen before due to all the mist in the air, and most of the men were at least waist deep in water.

However, what she _did_ see still made her blush. She stared, eyes wide, for as long as she could, quenching her cat-like curiosity, before Hari moved in front of the hole, giving her only a view of his mid-back. She scowled, turning around so that she was out of the way of the hole.

"You've got two minutes, perv."

She heard a perverted giggle behind her. Counting it off in her head, she gave him exactly that amount of time before putting herself between him and his view the same way he had for her. When she did, Hari groaned at the loss.

"You've had your fun, Hari-san. Now, turn around and walk away. If I catch you looking again, I _will_ castrate you." The boy yelped softly at the threat. "Understood?"

Hari responded with his voice cracking. "Yes." A second later, she heard steps, followed by the splashing of someone new getting in the water.

Rei grinned, re-entering the water. She had finally accomplished something she hadn't managed yet, and it had been an…interesting experience.

"What are you so happy about, Rei-chan?" asked one of the elder Konoha nin, Shan, curiously.

The cat-nin smirked at her. "I just caught a glimpse of our future," she stated, motioning toward the hole in the wall.

The older girl pumped a hand into the air. "Yosh! Perhaps, we should all look then, so we can all have advance notice of fights to come!"

Before the girl even moved, a hand landed on her shoulder. "That's quite alright, Shan. That's not exactly what she means." Shan looked up to find Tenten with a concerned look on her face. The woman then walked past both girls to the hole and promptly stuck a kunai firmly in the hole, completely blocking any possible view.

Rei let out a snort of laughter. Then, the brown haired woman turned on her. "And you should know better than to look through that."

The neko-nin had the courtesy to look sheepish. "Well, I was curious."

She heard a chuckle beside her. "Curious nothing. You were being perverted."

Rei glared at Taru, but was interrupted before she could respond.

"That's the _mundane_ way of looking at them," claimed Hinashin energetically. "_This_ is how you do it." She did a quick hand seal. "Stalker style: Look Through Walls no Jutsu!" Everyone stared as her Byakugan activated and sweat-dropped anime-style.

Suddenly, there was an ominous presence behind her. Hinashin laughed nervously. "Er…heheh…Hi, Mom."

Hinata grabbed her by the ear, causing her to yelp in pain. "I've told you not to use your bloodline like that, Hinashin." She proceeded to drag the girl off to the other side of the springs. Bad things were, no doubt, in store for her. Those present would later recall that despite the imminent threat, Hinashin had yet to release her technique nor wipe away the Cheshire grin accompanying it.


	37. Round Three Begins

((Alright, I'm finally finished with the worst semester I've had so far. There was entirely too much work to be done between physics, organic chem., and civ. Unfortunately, next semester is probably only going to be worse, seeing as I have physics 2, organic 2, and quantitative analytic chemistry. Sounds fun, huh? Did you catch the sarcasm? Good.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back to writing fanfic. I'll get a chapter out a week throughout my winter break (three weeks), I promise. That being said…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Here's your holiday chapter!))

**The Third Round Begins**

The group of chuunin candidates stood in front of an enormous audience in a stadium built specifically for chuunin exams. The floor of the arena had a small patch of trees, a grouping of rocks, and the rest was completely open, along with a small pond off to one side. It had a little bit of everything that a ninja could need.

The contestants themselves stood in the middle of the clearing with the proctor, Uchiha Sasuke, in front of them. A couple of them seemed nervous, but the majority had a confident air about them. The crowd murmured as they waited for the tournament to start.

Sasuke approached the group. "Alright, genin." He reached into his jounin vest and pulled out a sheet of paper, unfolding it. "This is what the brackets look like." He allowed the candidates to gather around and look at the piece of paper curiously. He took special note of the elder Mist team, one of whom smirked when she saw the brackets.

Nara Rokudenashi vs. Kadai Sutamina

Rokotsu Katame vs. Hou Chiku

Kuwashii Hari vs. Uzumaki Hyuuga Hinashin

Kihou Sokudo vs. Hyuuga Nebin

Tsukino Hotaru vs. Souran of Suna

Onkyou Nami vs. Teisuu Uppun

When all of them stepped back, he pocketed the paper. "Would Nara Rokudenashi and Kadai Sutamina please stay here, while the rest of you proceed to the contestant's observation balcony."

As the others walked off toward the balcony, Hari waited until it was just him, the two combatants, and the proctor, motioning for Katame to go on ahead when she turned to look at him. He stepped up in front of Suta and waited for the boy to meet his eyes. When he finally did, Hari could see the sorrow in them.

"Look, Suta-kun," he began seriously, "I'm sorry about what I said the other day." Suta looked surprised to hear that. "But I'm not a toy to be played with. I control my own actions. I'm not going to let you, or Magusa-chan, or even Shino-sensei tell me what to do." The Cloud nin dropped his gaze sadly.

Hari put a hand on top of his head comfortingly. "I still like you, Suta-kun. Just don't force me to do things anymore." He paused as the boy looked up at him and smiled slightly. He held out a hand to him. "So, how about it? Still friends?" he asked.

He was surprised when the young Kumo genin ignored his hand and jumped onto him, hugging him. Hari was forced to take a step back to prevent the pair from falling on the ground. The Leaf nin chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Suta pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. "I'm still kicking your ass in the semis," he stated firmly.

Hari laughed lightly. "We'll see about that, Suta-kun."

The proctor's irritated voice interrupted the pair. "If you are quite done, would you please go wait in the contestant's observation balcony?"

Hari turned slightly toward the irate Sasuke. "Hai. Gomen." He gave one last quick glance at the boy in front of him. "Good luck, Suta." The Cloud nin beamed up at him. Then, Hari started to jog toward the balcony.

Behind him, he heard the proctor ask if the two of them were ready. Just as he reached the stairs, he heard the announcement, followed immediately by loud applause. "Hajime!"

Taru sat in the crowd next to her team, Kizui, Tounyo, and Konohamaru-sensei. Tounyo was trying to get Kizui to sit still while their sensei just laughed at them.

Around them were members of the other Leaf teams. Hitayio and Rei sat on their right, watching the arena below them with interest. Kiba, their sensei, sat behind them talking animatedly to Shino, who never did respond. Beside the trench coat wearing man sat the only student he had who didn't make it to the finals, Taka. She was glancing around them, observing everyone that was nearby. Taru caught how her gaze slowed on Tounyo, saddening, before she moved on. On their left sat the older Leaf teams, along with the Suna team. Koukatsu Uchiha sat silently beside his sensei, who was loudly cheering on her student. Beside them was Hato, accompanied by his overzealous teammate, Shan, and sensei, Rock Lee, both of whom were shouting their support. Behind them sat Jiheki, Ichijin, and Temari, who were silently watching.

Taru turned her attention back to the arena below them, biting her lip. Rokuden was taking part in the first fight. She really hoped he came out of it alright. They still hadn't gotten to spend any time watching the clouds together. His sensei had forced him to train the entire month, so they hadn't been able to. Maybe when this was over, they could, assuming he didn't get stuck in the hospital for an extended stay.

Taru looked at his opponent and shivered. That was a distinct possibility. This little boy had put a Mist kunoichi in the hospital for nearly three weeks. She was astounded that such a child could be so ruthless in battle.

She really hoped nothing would happen to Rokuden. She really hoped he would win.

"Hajime!"

Rokuden dodged to the side as his opponent pulled out some of his sunflower seeds and turned them into shuriken, tossing them at him. Rokuden's eyes narrowed. He knew not to underestimate this kid. His last fight had shown that. It had also shown him one of his supposedly more powerful jutsu and how to avoid it. Surely he would be smart enough not to try the same trick twice.

Yet, like last time, he spent the start of the fight simply pulling out sunflower seed shuriken and throwing them, almost haphazardly. Rokuden merely bided his time. If the boy wanted to use the same strategy, then so be it. It would only turn out to the Nara's advantage. After he dodged the quickly growing vines with a substitution or something similar, it would be all the easier to catch him in his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu) with all the shadows around.

Slowly, the ground around the edge of the arena clearing gathered a small layer of sunflower seeds. At that point, the Nara was thankful for his sensei forcing him to work on his endurance, or he would be exhausted by now.

Rokuden caught a sudden fierceness in Sutamina's eyes as he pulled out three more shuriken with one hand and tossed them with an accuracy unseen in his previous throws, his other hand following the first, channeling chakra in a way that caused the projectiles to correct their aim slightly into the path of his dodge. The pineapple haired genin was forced to quicken his reaction, dodging twice, and even then had his cheek and arm cut slightly by two of the weapons.

He winced as he landed, but continued dodging as he sensed more of the unique shuriken coming at him. The throws seemed to return to the lazy ones from before as it became easy to stay ahead of them once more. Yet, somehow, the Leaf nin knew something was wrong.

He found out what when he felt a sharp stinging in his side. He looked down and was shocked to find a tiny plant growing slowly out of his flesh. He looked up and found Suta with one hand throwing more shuriken while the other was in a one-handed seal. When the boy saw that he had been caught, he smirked, bringing both his hands up to make a hand sign.

The next thing Rokuden felt was intense pain.

Suta grinned. He had this fight in the bag. When he had thrown those three shuriken with more accuracy, he had done so in a way that would cause them to curve towards where he had calculated his opponent would dodge. He followed up with a nearly un-seeable seed, thrown in the act of shifting the motion of his shuriken so that the Nara wouldn't see the seed.

It had worked, slightly cutting the pineapple haired boy, but more importantly drawing his attention away from the true threat. He had returned to throwing basic shuriken for a short time before activating the seed with a one-handed seal. It would only cause it to grow slowly, but it would give him more time to let it sink into the boy's skin.

By the time his opponent noticed it, he was already too late. Suta accelerated the growth exponentially by bringing his second hand up to complete the seal. Rokuden curled in on himself in pain as the roots dug into him. The Leaf nin would have to give up within the next minute or so, before the pain overwhelmed him and he fell unconscious.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty seconds, and he still hadn't given up.

Thirty seconds, Suta refusing to let up on his jutsu until the match was called.

Forty-five seconds.

That was when Suta suddenly felt his hands pulling out of the hand seal, against his will. Suta struggled to put them back together but found he couldn't. He wouldn't be able to continue to grow the plant in his foe if he couldn't perform the seal! Slowly, he, too, bent over to mimic the form of his opponent, his eyes widening.

He had been caught in the Nara's jutsu!

But how? He had been watching Rokuden's shadow with one eye to make sure it never started in his direction.

Gradually, he stood back up, favoring his side as if he had the plant stuck in him as well. He glared at the Leaf nin angrily, looking for how he had been caught unaware. His eyes fell on the shadow behind his adversary, which was reaching even further back and going underneath the small layer of sunflower seed shuriken that had accumulated. His eyes travelled along the shadow as far as he could. Apparently, Rokuden saw where his eyes were because he began turning to give the Kumo shinobi a better view. The shadow went all the way around in a half circle, all the while gathering more darkness, until it came out directly behind him and connected to his own shadow.

Suta automatically started copying the curse words he had heard Uppun use. He was forced to turn back around to look at the Nara's lazy smirk. The smaller boy's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Together, they took a step toward each other, though Rokuden winced slightly, apparently still feeling the effects of the pain even though the plant wasn't burrowing further into him anymore. "That was a sneaky trick you pulled back there," he complimented, walking closer together. "Unfortunately for you, I still caught you with my shadow. Clearly, I have come out the victor here."

Suta actually chuckled at that, causing a concerned look to appear on his opponent's face. "I must admit, that you almost had me there. It looks like I'm going to have to show my trump card a lot earlier than I thought."

Rokuden frowned thoughtfully. "But how can you do anything when the only way you move is if I do?" he asked with a mixture of confusion and genuine curiosity.

Suta grinned. He knew this was going to hurt like hell, but he couldn't lose this early in the tournament. May as well let loose. "Like this!" he shouted.

He began to channel large amounts of chakra towards his stomach and felt the pain wash over him.

Ino chuckled, punching her husband on the arm lightly. Rokuden had just captured his opponent in his Kagemane. "He's a genius, just like his father," she claimed proudly.

Chouji was there with the happily married couple, glad to be able to spend some time with his old team. Neji was with them, watching the events silently unfold before him. They sat only a couple rows behind the new group of rookies, meaning that Tenten, Lee, Shino, and Kiba weren't far off. There were a couple of other ninja around them, but none that they conversed with regularly.

"That was rather impressive," stated Chouji, pausing just long enough in chewing his bag of chips to get the statement out.

"Now all he has to do is forfeit and it'll be the spitting image of his father's first chuunin exam," interjected Neji with an oddly playful tone.

Shikamaru couldn't help a lazy smirk. "I'll have you recall that I was promoted during that exam."

Ino waved a hand dismissively at the both of them. "Ah, he wouldn't have to resort to that." She grinned confidently. "You forget, he's got my clan jutsu as well."

"Looks like he's going to use it, too," stated Chouji, bringing their attention back to the arena floor. They watched as the two combatants approached each other, Rokuden's intent to use the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Jutsu) clear to any that knew about it.

Suddenly, a howl of pain ripped through the arena, causing all noise in the crowd to go quiet.

What followed was a scene that left all four of the shinobi completely stunned.

Only Shikamaru managed to find his voice.

"Mendokusei."

Sakkaku stared at the fight below them._ "No way"_ she thought in surprise, _"He's been caught!" _Sutamina, who she had never seen lose to anyone below special jounin rank, had been trapped in his opponent's jutsu. Sure, the boy _looked_ like a child, but in battle, he was anything but. Nothing like this had ever happened before!

"Don't do it, Suta…" she heard her sensei murmur beside her. Her eyes widened as she realized what the man was talking about. If he used that, it would practically guarantee that he wouldn't be promoted.

Not that his chances were that good right now, anyway…

The scream that followed signaled the use of his technique.

The Hensei Puranto no Jutsu (Plant Metamorphosis no Jutsu).

Rokuden felt the snap of his Kagemane being broken and knew that something was wrong again. Then, Sutamina let out a howl of pain the likes of which he had never heard before.

And he soon understood why.

The head of a sunflower plant abruptly began growing out of his mouth. He threw back his head as it shot high into the air, growing significantly as it did so. Then, from the palms of his hands burst forth more vines of the plant, budding into enormous leaves. When all was said and done, the boy's small body was miniscule at the bottom of an almost twelve foot sunflower plant.

"Mendokusei," muttered Rokuden in annoyance.

He was only mildly shocked when the plant-creature swung one of its leave in a wide arch, forcing him to jump back out of range. Surprisingly, it stopped once he was out of its reach, standing oddly still. Taking the chance to calm down, he immediately began searching out a way to defeat this thing.

Clearly, his Kagemane wouldn't work on it, seeing as how it had broken out of it quite easily. He could try the Shintenshin on it, but he doubted that would work, seeing as how the beast didn't even seem to have a brain at the moment, only instincts. The only other jutsu he knew were the basics and a few elemental ones, none of which would be useful at the moment.

Sighing, he decidedly to test its physical abilities to see if that would give him any inspiration. He pulled out a kunai and cautiously stepped forward, taking note of how the proctor seemed ready to pull him back at any moment.

As soon as he was within its reach, the leaf whipped around with startling speed. He barely managed to step out of the way, bringing his kunai up to slice through the course plant material. To his astonishment, his arm was jerked by the leaf, even though only the kunai had hit the thing. He took a few steps back to observe his handiwork and noted the small slice on the one leaf. Unfortunately, it wasn't significant enough to cause any actual damage.

He sighed in irritation. He didn't have any blades larger than a kunai. And judging by the width of the stalk coming out of Sutamina's mouth, he would have to cut the thing three or four times before the head finally fell off, if he could even manage that with how fast the creature was. He had just one last idea…

He pulled out a kunai with an explosive note on it and backed up a few steps. Taking a deep breath, he got a short running start and darted towards the sunflower. As soon as he was close enough, the plant was swinging its leaf at him again. He got as far as he could, not even bothering to try to dodge since he knew he couldn't and lobbed his explosive kunai, bracing himself for the blow.

He was knocked a good distance away, skidding to a halt near the other side of the arena. With a quick spike of chakra, he caused the explosive note to go off. He groaned when he saw that the explosion took place in the forested area, away from the sunflower beast. The creature must have sensed the motion and batted it away with its other leaf.

Rokuden slowly got to his feet, moaning when the palm-sized plant attached to his side throbbed painfully. He checked himself and, finding nothing broken, hobbled over to where the proctor stood.

"I surrender," he told the Uchiha seriously.

Sasuke didn't even have to ask if he was sure, only nodded. There was no way the kid could beat a creature like this. By then, the conversation in the crowd had picked up again. "Winner: Kadai Sutamina!" he announced, stunning the audience into silence once more.

Not a moment later, Sasuke pulled out an ANBU kodachi from its sheath and was gone in a flash of speed. There was a swift cutting sound, followed by the proctor reappearing beside the young Nara. Rokuden glanced up to see the giant sunflower's head fall to the ground, landing with a loud thud on the arena floor. This was swiftly accompanied by the boy's body falling on its back, unmoving.

The crowd around them burst into cheers as medics rushed the field, trying to gather up the unconscious Kumo genin.

"You should probably have them check on that side of yours, too." The Leaf nin glanced up to find the Uchiha motioning toward the plant in his side. He nodded agreeably and followed sedately after the medics as they took the plant-boy hybrid into the infirmary.

Rokuden certainly wouldn't be forgetting this fight any time soon.


	38. Constant Mirage

((This was a rather difficult chapter to write…Unusual considering I usually write fighting chapter rather quickly. For some reason I struggled with this one. Anyway, I got it out in a week. Please feel free to criticize me because something still feels off about this chapter.

Here's your Happy New Year chapter! And thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter!))

**Constant Mirage**

Hason observed the conclusion of the first fight of the third round from under his hooded cloak with only mild interest. The technique the Cloud shinobi used had shown a surprising ability with his bloodline, but all it really did in the end was take out both fighters. One had to surrender and the other would be rendered unable to continue in the next round. That many in the infirmary would be a minor inconvenience for their plan, but nothing more.

Around him, the crowd was going wild. To have such a close match right off the bat was intoxicating to them. They seemed to feed off the competitiveness of it all. The roars overrode all other noise, making any conversation near impossible.

He glanced sideways at his "teacher", who was similarly hooded. They had both put on some mild disguises underneath, just to be sure they weren't recognized before their plan could be implemented. The two made eye contact and nodded discretely. This next match was the one that Chiku would fight in. It would be where they finally started their assault, though in a subversive method. If things went well here, everything would proceed as intended.

Hason turned back to the arena to observe his teammate's inevitable defeat.

Taru saw Rokuden walk towards the infirmary, biting her lip. She turned to her sensei, who looked mildly impressed by the battle. "Sensei…" she began, drawing his attention. "Do you think I could…" she trailed off, motioning vaguely toward the infirmary.

Konohamaru looked confused at first, but then understanding hit him. With a slight smirk, he nodded. Relieved her hadn't made more of a deal out of it, she quickly stood up and walked up the stairs that led outside.

"Hey, Tounyo-chan." The blond boy turned an annoyed gaze on Kizui, clearly wishing he would stop using that nickname. "Where's Taru-chan going?"

Tounyo raised an eyebrow before responding with an amused quirk on his lips. "To check on her boyfriend."

"Oh," Kizui said dumbly. His eyes lit up as realization dawned on him. "_Oh!_" He paused. "Wait. Taru-chan has a boyfriend?"

Tounyo only rolled his eyes as Konohamaru-sensei chuckled beside him.

Katame watched as the first pair of combatants were taken to the infirmary. Clearly, neither one would be returning any time soon. That meant that whoever won her match would have a free win and more time to rest.

She turned to look at her opponent. He was conversing quietly with his teammate. She noted once more how the two were completely ignoring the other genin from Kiri. Shino-sensei had warned her about this guy the day before…

0o0o0o_Flashback no Jutsu_0o0o0o

"_Chiku is believed to be a Sound agent that has infiltrated Mist to gain access to these exams," Shino-sensei said with his usual monotone. "He will most likely be much stronger than any of the actual genin in this exam. _You_ will be the one fighting him in the third round."_

_Katame blinked up at him. "Would that not be sabotaging my attempts to achieve a promotion?"_

"_Perhaps," conceded Shino, "but Hokage-sama wishes to have this man defeated to cripple their inevitable plan. She believes you have the best chance of doing this."_

"_May I inquire as to why?"_

"_According to our analysis of him, Chiku primary weakness lies in genjutsu. You are to take advantage of this to defeat him in the tournament. Your success will guarantee a promotion and equivalent pay for a C rank mission."_

"_Hai, sensei."_

_Shino stared at her critically. "I am not entirely sure I agree with the Hokage's decision, but I can see that you may be the only one in the tournament who stands a chance against him. He is strong. Be careful, and do not be afraid to withdraw. I would rather see you lose than die."_

_Katame only nodded._

_He pulled back up to his full height to look down at her with as near a proud expression as she had ever seen on him. "Rokotsu Katame, do you accept this mission?"_

"_Hai."_

0o0o0oEnd Flashback no Jutsu0o0o0o

Katame was no fool. She knew how little a chance she stood against this man. As such, she planned on using every advantage she could get.

The proctor called for the two of them to come to the center of the arena to start their match. Chiku turned to look at the Uchiha. In this moment of distraction, Katame used a subtle genjutsu on the Mist nin.

Taka would probably have complained about how it wasn't honorable if she had seen the action, but Katame didn't care. She was a ninja on a mission, and honor was next to worthless on such occasions. As it was, only Hari had seen the move, being as close to her as he was, and all he did was snicker.

The blue haired genin was only slightly surprised when Chiku turned and met her eye with a knowing gaze. So, he had noticed the genjutsu. Perhaps he wasn't as weak in that ability as the jounin seemed to think. Without another word, the black haired swordsman hopped over the rail to the arena below.

Katame watched him go, noting how he left the genjutsu on himself, even though he knew it was there. He was either over-confident or _wanted_ it to be there.

"Good luck, Katame-chan." Hari thumped her solidly on the back, causing her to stumble forward a step. She turned slightly, nodding. Then, she headed towards the stairs to take the long way to the arena. No use wasting chakra to cushion a jump.

As she reached the stairs, she couldn't help but think.

This would either end really well or very badly.

Taka fidgeted nervously in her seat. Katame was facing an opponent that Taka knew she had practically no chance against. She had seen how badly Hitayio had been defeated with just a single move. Actually, she had barely seen it, it had been so fast. Hitayio was lucky he was so fast, or he probably would have been dead from that single action.

And all this information made her extremely nervous about the coming match. She watched as Katame walked out onto the arena floor stoically. How could she be so calm in a time like this?

She turned anxiously to Shino. "Do you think she'll survive the first move?" she asked quietly, allowing her pessimism to show through for once.

Shino glanced down at her. "The first move has already been made."

Taka gave him a confused look and turned back to the arena floor. Katame was still approaching the center; the match hadn't even begun yet. "What do you-?"

Her sensei cut her off by putting a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be fine."

The redhead let out a frustrated sigh. That lie was a lot harder to believe with the sound coming from within the man. It was like an angry hornets' nest, audible to those nearby even over the enthused audience.

Now Taka was _really_ worried.

Chiku watched his opponent approach calmly. From what he had seen of her last fight, this would be an…interesting battle. At least it would be enough to keep him entertained.

For example, he still hadn't been able to figure out what the first genjutsu she had used on him did. He had recognized the small chakra spike as soon as she had used it, but it was so subtle that even Nami had missed it, granted she wasn't the target so that made it a bit more difficult. In addition, the effects were nigh undetectable. His inability to identify it intrigued him enough for him to let it continue until its results came about.

He also found it amusing that the Uchiha proctor had noticed the genjutsu and activated his Sharingan in order to see through any illusions cast by either side. He probably could have without it, but the additional strength of his kekkei-genkai would give both sides of the battle extra safety due to his improved reaction times.

Chiku also couldn't count out the option that it was on only to watch over his impressive speed.

Either way, it didn't matter. Things wouldn't be like they were in the last fight.

The girl finally reached the center of the arena, and the crowd around them cheered excitedly. Why they were so entertained by children fighting a grown-ups mock war, he would never know.

"Are you both ready?"

Chiku glanced at the proctor. He was clearly asking that more for the sake of the little Leaf nin than him. The Sound nin could sense the mild concern in the man's voice. That was slightly surprising considering he was known as one of the lesser emotional ones of the Konoha Twelve.

The blue haired girl seemed unconcerned with it though, merely nodding seriously. Chiku grinned, doing the same.

"Hajime!"

Katame, as he thought the girl was called, immediately began a set of hand signs. The Oto nin almost could have rolled his eyes. Did she really have to do something so simple?

Well, he at least had to make it look convincing. He rushed forward, harnessing only a fraction of his possible speed. Both the girl and the Uchiha no doubt noticed the difference, but it didn't matter.

He still made it to Katame before she could finish her seals. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he unsheathed it, slicing through her in the same fluid motion. Again, he made it significantly slower than he could have to make sure he didn't accidentally defeat the girl with the blow.

To his surprise, the blade passed straight through her, causing her to merely vanish into nothingness, almost like a clone. Then, he felt the chakra of a genjutsu lift off of him and realized it had only been an illusion.

Yet, somehow, he could still feel the original genjutsu in effect on him.

Growing even more intrigued, he turned to survey the arena floor, unsurprised to find her completely missing. Then, he heard the swishing of a weapon through the air and took a single step out of the way. He glanced over and found Katame standing on the floor in one of the patches of forest, looking completely focused on the battle.

He darted at her again, dodging the few kunai she threw. Then, as he was about to step over a small limb that had fallen to the forest floor, he felt something catch his foot. He fell on his front, catching himself before he hit the ground, somewhat surprised when his hands went _through_ the log that had been in front of him.

A moment later, he felt the chakra of a genjutsu fade from around him, this time the genjutsu that had originally been placed on him. In front of his eyes, the limb faded out of view. He glanced downward and saw that the branch was actually the object that had caused him to trip. It had merely been shifted a few feet to throw him off. It was subtle enough not to be recognized by even some of the most observant of foes. It was brilliant.

When he felt a figure above, he turned to get a better view of it. This might be the end of the match…

His eyes widened when he caught sight of a wakizashi in his opponent's hand, ready to plunge into his back and cause vital damage. He pushed himself to the side, shifting his own blade in the process so that he slashed the girl across the leg. A damaging blow, but not a match ending one.

To his shock, the sword passed almost effortlessly through her, dispersing her into a flurry of sakura petals. _"A clone,"_ he realized.

Chiku smirked, pushing himself back to his feet. This fight was turning out a lot more interesting than he had thought it would. This little Leaf nin had more tricks up her sleeve than most chuunin. It was rather impressive. Even now, he could feel yet another illusion on him.

It wouldn't be enough to win if he decided to actually try, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

He caught sight of his opponent, once more going through hand seals. He once more started after her, sword at the ready. He couldn't help but note how she had yet to get within reach of his blade, even if it was extended invisibly by his jutsu.

Before he could reach her, she finished her set of seals and brought a hand up to her mouth. A burst of fire erupted from her mouth, rushing at high speed toward Chiku. The Sound nin stopped his charge and leapt to the side to avoid it. As it flew by him, he noticed how it didn't have any actual heat to the flame. "_Another genjutsu."_

He didn't know whether to be entertained or annoyed by all of these illusions.

He looked up again, only to see her vanish into nothingness. _"Another illusory clone."_ Sensing a chakra signature, he glanced in her direction, finding her making the same hand seals her clone had been moments before. Chiku scowled. If the seals were the same, it would be just another fireball genjutsu.

He barely caught that the last seal in the sequence was different from the previous set. Eyes widening slightly, he jumped out of the way of the ball of flame, this time feeling the significant heat radiating off of it.

When he landed, he was slightly surprised to see Katame next to him, pulled back with her wakizashi to deliver a finishing blow. He completely ignored her, recognizing the clone. Instead, he spun, swinging his own sword in a wide arc in the direction he could feel the real Katame in.

The girl tried to block his attack, but was barely able to get her weapon in position to knock the blow over her head, losing her grip on her wakizashi in the process. Left without a weapon, she darted forward to take advantage of his momentary defenselessness. With wide eyes, he watched as a fist approached his face at astounding velocity.

The blow connected solidly with his temple.

Then, everything went black.

Souran watched the fight from the contestants' balcony with a keen eye. If he made it to the finals, he could be fighting one of these two. They certainly seemed to have the necessary abilities.

The girl was simply astounding with her genjutsu, even using it in tandem with ninjutsu to increase its effectiveness. That would have been enough to defeat almost any of the contestants left in the competition.

But, still, it wasn't enough to beat her current opponent. Worse yet, the guy seemed to be actually holding back significantly, especially given his performance in the prelims.

Something clearly wasn't right about this.

He knew that Konoha was suspicious of the older Mist team. He didn't have much of an idea of what they were planning to do, but he knew it would not turn out well for Konoha if it succeeded. This weird fight only reinforced this thought process. And given that they were allies, he would really prefer to find what the enemy was up to.

When he saw Katame throw her second melee attack of the round, he watched the Mist nin completely disregard the fake and turn on the original. She dodged and, unable to maintain hold of her blade, countered with a fist.

Souran turned his gaze on the female Mist nin in the contestants' balcony as he felt a chakra pulse from her direction. His eyes narrowed when he found her as if she hadn't even moved. He knew he had felt a jump in chakra, like the execution of a jutsu, come from her.

That suspicion was only reinforced when he looked back at the arena and found the elder Mist nin somehow unconscious from but a single blow. Even if he was hit in the head, as it seemed he would be when Souran had looked away, it should not have done that much damage to him. The girl clearly wasn't designed for melee combat. To think just one attack from her would knock a ninja out, no matter how poorly trained, was ridiculous.

Something definitely wasn't right around here.

He would be keeping a close eye on this Nami chick.

Hitayio stared in complete disbelief as Chiku fell to the arena floor, out cold.

How could Katame have defeated him? Sure, he could see Katame's strength in strategy, but there was only so much of an advantage that that could give.

She shouldn't have been able to win.

Something was very fishy about this.

He watched with a narrowed gaze as the medics came out to take him to the infirmary on a stretcher. He barely noticed that the other genin around him, along with their sensei, had fallen silent.

Hitayio stared as the bastard that had defeated him, and then let this girl beat him, was carried off. Without a word, he stood and moved toward the aisle.

Before he could reach it, he felt a hand grab his wrist. "Where are you going?"

The genin looked back at Kiba-sensei with a determined gaze. "There's something odd going on down there, and I intend to find out what."

The dog nin's eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think you'll be of any use?"

Hitayio couldn't think of anything, so he only glared. To his surprise, Shino came to his rescue, placing a hand on his companion's shoulder.

"He _did_ fight him before. Perhaps, he will be able to identify a difference that others would not."

Kiba scowled but waved a hand in dismissal. "He's lucky Sakura is down there, or I wouldn't even consider it."

Hitayio gave a grateful grin before turning and darting toward the stairs. He became serious again once out of sight. This was too important for him to just ignore. He _would_ find out what was going on.


	39. Reveal Thyself

((Alright, guys. Thanks for all the support! Unfortunately, I start college again next week and this coming semester may just be even worse than the last one was, timewise at least. I extremely doubt I'll have any time to write. I promise to return in the summer and resume this story from where I left off. Thanks again!

Now, I apologize in advance. I think you'll understand when you get there.))

**Reveal Thyself!**

Kaji Aitaro sat amongst the civilians, watching the fights with a façade of interest. He was disguised as just another citizen and was trying to act the part, standing and cheering whenever those around him did so. He tugged at the short-sleeved civilian shirt, uncomfortable being out of his normal long-sleeved black one. Still, no one around him had suspected anything.

Considering most of them were civilians, that was hardly a feat worth noting.

He was relatively sure that any ANBU in the area, and there probably were some, had noticed him and were just ignoring him.

He pulled the hat that was covering his light blue hair up a little so he could get a better view as he looked around. Of course, this was actually a cover action to observe the two undercover Mist shinobi a few rows in front of him. So far, they had been acting their part, just like him, to the point where even he would have had a hard time believing they were ninja and not tourists there for the entertainment.

Suddenly, the crowd around him fell silent in shock. Confused, he looked at the arena to find one of the Mist nin's teammates out cold with the blue haired kunoichi standing over him. A moment later, all around him, violent cheering erupted. Mentally, he raised an eyebrow as he joined in with the excited cheering around him.

He had heard about the stacked Mist team and how incredibly skilled they were. To have one fall in combat against a genin was a surprise; especially against a rookie, good though she may be. It didn't make sense unless his info was inaccurate.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see the two Mist nin, still in civilian clothing, climbing the stairs of the aisle. Continuing to applaud the battle below him, he watched them carefully. At the top, they took a left, heading in the direction of the VIP boxes. Aitaro scowled. That couldn't be a good thing.

Subtly, he pulled out his radio and brought it up to his mouth. He quickly alerted his team as to the direction the Kiri shinobi had gone. They were all older than him, many of them had been chuunin for years. That was probably the reason he had been selected as lookout. If anything, he would show up late to the encounter that was sure to follow.

Nonetheless, he was going to join in, whether his team wanted him there or not.

When he put his radio away, he was slightly surprised to find that a teenage girl, maybe a year or two older than him, had been watching him from her seat beside him with a look of slight worry. Sure, he had noticed that she was there before, but he hadn't been paying enough attention to her to notice her beauty or her innocence. He tried to fight the grin that threatened to come over his face at the thought of playing with that innocence.

He gave her a light-hearted smile and reached into his pocket, flashing her his Konoha hitai-ate. That seemed to appease the girl, as she calmed down noticeably.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have duty to attend to. Then, I'm going to wank as I imagine you naked."

He caught the bright blush on her face as he turned to walk up the stairs at a casual pace. He grinned to himself. He did so love teasing people, especially when he would likely never see them again.

The medic attending to Hou Chiku checked his vitals quickly. After the first match, the infirmary had been incredibly hectic. They had two patients that both needed immediate medical attention. The Cloud nin had taken most of the more skilled healers to remove the enlarged plant from the inside of his body. Even after that, they still had to cure many of his organs, as the sunflower had grown straight _through_ them. It had taken both Sakura and Shizune to heal it, and they had only just finished.

The Nara hadn't been as bad. Some of the other more skilled medics had attended to him and gotten the implanted seed out of his system before it could reach his vital organs. Both would still take a while to head, but they had kept them clear of any life-threatening danger.

The second fight hadn't caused nearly as much ruckus.

One combatant had simply returned to the observation deck, while the other was unconscious in front of her. He hadn't even needed any healing.

To be honest, the medics that had looked at him weren't quite sure what was wrong with him. He was simply unconscious, for no apparent reason.

The only abnormality that they could find was a small bit of foreign chakra in his system, something that wasn't unusual in ninja, especially after having been under genjutsu, which had to get to the brain to affect the person.

The medic nodded as she made sure that all of his vitals were functioning normally. She sighed, slightly bored. She almost wished an event like that of the first fight would happen again, if only for the excitement of it.

Instead, she paused to look at her patient. He was surprisingly handsome with his dark maroon hair allowed to fall around his shoulders. And oddly peaceful. The girl found herself blushing as she considered running her fingers through his hair before dismissing the thought as absurd.

Instead, she glanced down and caught sight of the sword that was still in his hand. Her brows furrowed slightly. He shouldn't have been allowed to keep his weapon in hand in the infirmary, but larger oversights had occurred during her time as a healer. She reached down to pull the blade away, intentionally letting her fingers touch his, only to find the grasp to be as firm as if he were conscious and using his full strength to keep hold of it. She scowled and tried to get him to relax in his slumber but had no such luck.

Hesitantly, she withdrew her hand and put it in front of her mouth timidly. Something was definitely off.

She started out of the room with a purposeful stride.

Sakura-sempai would want to know about this.

Hari cheered loudly as Katame climbed the stairs back to the contestants' box. "Awesome job, Katame-chan! You beat someone that won their last fight in two moves! That's amazing!" He ran up and gave her a strong hug.

"Something was not right in that fight," he heard Katame whisper in his ear.

"I know," he whispered back quietly. "I'm sure sensei noticed too."

He released her and pumped a fist into the air. "Now, it's my turn to do the same!"

Katame merely nodded, walking toward the railing and looking out. Hari sweat-dropped. "Don't I get a good luck or something?"

The blue haired kunoichi turned to him with a confused look. "Do you need it?"

The masked genin rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, no…"

"Then, I see no reason to wish it to you," she said emotionlessly, looking back over the rail.

Hari sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes, he wondered if Katame even understood the concept of a common courtesy. His attention was drawn by footsteps coming toward him.

The green haired genin turned to see his opponent walking toward him, an arrogant grin on her face. She stopped a step in front of him. He felt Katame step up behind him, ready to put an end to anything that started between them. He couldn't help but notice how cute she was. Nonetheless, the younger genin regarded her anxiously.

Then, suddenly, she brought her hand up in front of her as if getting ready for an arm wrestling match. "May the better shinobi win."

Hari grinned lightly, gripping her hand firmly in his own. "Agreed."

Competitive sparks flew between the two as they grinned at each other, both trying to intimidate the other with their gaze and grip. Needless to say, the Hyuuga eyes had a slight advantage in this department.

Simultaneously, they smirked at each other and turned on the railing that separated them from the arena floor and, taking the few steps to get there at a run, vaulted over it, grinning excitedly all the while. The roaring of the crowd renewed at this display of athletic expertise. They both landed in a crouch side by side and beamed at each other momentarily.

This was going to be a fun fight.

Tsunade, wearing her Hokage robes, turned toward her company in the Kage's personal box, trying to ignore the feeling that something very wrong was going on. Her ninja would take care of it. She just had to trust them. "So, how do you think Hinashin is going to do, Naruto?"

Naruto, who was accompanied by Hinata as Tsunade's escort during the exams, grinned his infectious grin. "Of _course_ she's going to win! She's the daughter of the future Rokudaime. How could she do otherwise?" Beside him, Hinata smiled slightly, nodding her agreement.

"I have heard that her opponent is a student of Aburame Shino and has taken up the use of traps during combat, as I recall Shino, himself, doing," said Kankuro, smirking despite the fact that he had been a victim of those traps before. The Sand nin was acting as Gaara's escort, though the trip was as much to see old friends as anything else, considering Suna only had one student still in the exams. He still wore his war paint and cat-like costume, even though he had grown to a considerable height. "If Hinashin's anything like her father, she'll probably run head-first into all of them and exhaust herself before the boy has to even lift a finger."

Naruto crossed him arms in a huff. "She can take him."

"I agree," stated Tsunade, causing Naruto to beam. "She's had Hinata there to teach her not to copy Naruto's acts of idiocy."

"Hey!"

Gaara, who was wearing his kage robes as was expected, showed the group a ghost of a smirk. "If she inherited any of the Uzumaki stamina, she will be fine."

Naruto turned on Kankuro. "Ha! Even your brother agrees with me!"

"Psh. I'm going to enjoy watching the rookie outsmart the famous Uzumaki Naruto's daughter."

"What!?-" Naruto demanded, starting to stand.

He was interrupted by his wife gripping his forearm. He looked at her, and she motioned to the arena. "The fight is starting."

His eyes widened as he turned back to the stadium floor and began cheering loudly. The others watched the fight begin with interest.

Off to the side, the only other occupants of the room were the Mizukage and her guard, who had a thick sword strapped to his back. The guard gave the woman a nervous glance before looking away, keeping watch of what was going on.

The Mizukage was in her typical blue, low-cut shirt and long skirt, as had become typical of her. Yet, the look on her beautiful face was anything but usual. She stared off, pondering what had happened in a fight that should have been purely advertisement for her nation. Her gaze hardened as she went through the possibilities, none of them good. She really didn't like what was going on.

It seemed the traitors of Oto had just become traitors of Kiri.

They wouldn't survive a week past the chuunin exams. She would make sure of that.

Taru watched as the last root of the plant in Rokuden's side was pulled out, wincing in sympathy with the pained expression on the Nara's face. Then, glowing green hands were placed on the wound and she could see him visibly relax and smiled to herself. When the medic removed his hands, the wound was healed almost completely, leaving only a small sensitive spot.

"Now, I would recommend you take about a week off to make sure the wound has healed properly. No training, no missions, just relax."

"That sounds…heavenly," responded Rokuden, earning a laugh from the medic. He turned to leave.

"Just be careful for the next few days, and you should be fine then."

The genin nodded as the medic left him and Taru alone in the room.

The girl approached the side of his bed. "You alright?"

Rokuden looked at his bare side and poked the healed injury, causing Taru to realize that he was shirtless and making her blush. "It's a bit tender, but as the doc said, I'll be fine. The rest is just bruises that'll heal themselves over time."

Taru let out a sigh of relief, looking away. She had known it was true, but there was something about hearing it from Rokuden that made it finally sink in. "Good. You had me worried down there."

Rokuden laid back in his bed and closed his eyes. "If it was my choice, I wouldn't have even taken part in this stupid exam."

Taru gave him a smile. "You're even less enthused about this stuff than I am."

"It's all too troublesome for me."

"It certainly is a pain."

The pair smiled at each other. They fell into a comfortable silence as they both leaned back to look at the ceiling.

It was Rokuden that broke the silence. "You up for watching the clouds when I get released?"

Taru grinned at him, showing slightly sharper canines than was usual. "Of course!"

Rokuden smirked at her. "Then, it's a date." He didn't have to look at her to know that she was blushing.

Hinashin smirked across at her opponent, almost ignoring the proctor. This kid sort of reminded her of her father. She could tell he was confident but childish, energetic but a bit oblivious, spontaneous but a bit dumb.

However, unlike her father, she knew he had taken after Jiraiya in his perversions. The rumor mill within Konoha still ran true and, from the looks he had been giving the female competitors, had provided her with some useful information.

Information that she intended to take full advantage of.

Hari grinned back at her, already crouched in a ready stance.

"Ready, you two?" inquired Sasuke neutrally.

The two of them didn't even take their eyes off each other as they nodded, both were so eager to start the match. The Uchiha raised his arm dramatically, dropping it as he made his announcement. "Hajime!" This was met with a clamor of cheers and applause.

The two combatants waited for the crowd to calm somewhat before moving into action.

Hari darted forward, drawing a kunai. Hinashin drew one of her own and got set in a defensive stance. The younger genin lashed out with a jab. The Uzumaki deflected it and moved forward into an elbow strike. Hari shifted with the blow, allowing the attack to brush off his cheek, and leapt back to put some space between them.

Both paused, judging each other with a careful eye. After a few seconds, Hari spoke. "Aren't you going to activate your Byakugan?"

The kunoichi grinned. "Nah, I've been training for a month without it. I figure I'll show everybody what I've learned."

The masked nin raised an eyebrow. "If you say so." He pulled three kunai and threw them at her. "I guess I'll show what I've learned too."

Hinashin dodged two of them and blocked the third. Then, putting the kunai in her mouth, she started a set of hand seals. The green haired boy tensed but made no move to stop her. Perhaps he was curious as to her new moves.

Well, if he was going to be so foolish, she would take advantage of it.

She finished up her seals and took a deep breath. "Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu)

The blond girl couldn't help but smirk as her opponent's eyes widened. That was an B-ranked jutsu. Few would know it as a genin. Hinashin brought a hand up to her mouth and blew out an enormous dragon made entirely of flame.

Hari managed to get in just a few quick seals of his own before the dragon crashed upon him. The blond girl frowned. Surely, he couldn't be dead after that. If he had _dodged_, he would at least have gotten out alive.

But if he had just stood there…

Hinashin started looking around, breathing somewhat heavily. Better to make sure before jumping to conclusions. Then, she heard coughing. She turned toward the sound to find a smoking and mildly burned Hari standing there, favoring a burned arm.

"Damn…Was that really necessary?" he asked irritably.

Hinashin stared at him for a long time, watching him cough and collect himself after the brutal jutsu. When he finally noticed, he raised an eyebrow. "What? Is my hair on fire or something?"

"Ya know, you're kinda cute."

Hari gave her a confused look. "What? But how can you-?" He paused as he reached up and touched his face, noticing that his mask was now missing, burned away in the flame. "Crap," he muttered, looking down at himself. He was missing the mask as well as the left half of his shirt. "Damn it…Now the whole village, plus some, knows what I look like."

Hinashin giggled. "At least you're still in the fight," she pointed out.

"True." He took a deep breath. "But at this point, I'd almost rather just lie down and take a nap."

"Oh good, I can have the win then." Hinashin grinned at him.

The green haired genin chuckled. "Now, I never said that."

"Aw…Fine. Then, shall we continue?"

Hari sighed tiredly. "If we must."

The kunoichi darted forward, pulling a kunai. Surprisingly, her foe didn't even draw a weapon. He simply got into a defensive stance. As she got closer, she put on a sudden burst of speed and lashed out, as Konohamaru-sensei had taught her. She watched her opponent's eyes widened as he was forced to lean to the side to avoid it. Smirking, Hinashin continued her assault, pushing forward to keep her foe on the defensive. Every so often, she would put on a burst of speed to keep Hari off-balance and unable to adapt to her constantly changing pace.

Unfortunately, she soon found that she wasn't able to actually _land_ a blow on the guy. He was, somehow, capable of keeping just half a step ahead of her and out of the way of her attacks, even though he couldn't find the time to actually counter. It put them in an annoying stalemate. What made it worse was that he wasn't even using a weapon!

She turned her attention briefly to the area surrounding them, a plan forming in her head. With a slight smirk, she leapt over her foe, putting enough distance between them that he wouldn't be able to attack.

With her back now to the audience, she paused to take a breath. She could tell her foe had slightly harsh breathing as well. She smirked at Hari, and she could tell it was making him uncomfortable.

"I think I'll go ahead and end this now."

The younger genin gave her a doubtful look. "Oh? And how's that?"

"Like this: Hiramekasu no Jutsu!" (Flash no Jutsu) She pulled her shirt up in front of her face, exposing herself to his eyes. She knew the information from the rumor mill would be worthwhile. She just had to make sure the audience couldn't see it. It was a good thing the stands were only about a third of the way around the stadium.

Then, she heard a poof from in front of her. Blinking, she dropped her shirt and stared at the now empty space in front of her. She cursed as realization swept over her. _"A clone."_ The shock must have been enough of a jolt to dispel it.

That was incredibly annoying. Now, she couldn't use that technique on him. Plus, she had to find him. _"Fine then. I'll break out the big guns."_ With a single seal, she activated her Byakugan. This fight wouldn't last much longer.

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((I know! I know! I know! I'm evil and despicable for leaving off like this for like 4 months, but there was nothing I could do! I barely finished this chapter as it was (like just in time to send it to my beta, call him to make him read it, and less than an hour later so that it would be posted before I left)! This may have had to do with the fact that I had oral surgery on Friday, which I had almost forgotten about. Again, I apologize.

Feel free to leave a review chastising me.

SSF))


	40. Like Father, Like Daughter

((I _sincerely_ apologize for not getting this out last night. I went over to a friend's house and didn't realize I would be spending the night. At least I'm done with the semester, one of the worst ones so far…I'll try to post once a week, Fridays if possible. And thanks to chessvain for reminding me to get to writing after finals. R&R!))

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**Like Father, Like Daughter**

Naruto chuckled softly after seeing his daughter's new Hiramekasu no Jutsu(Flash Jutsu). It reminded him of his own Orioke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu), albeit hers was probably a bit more embarrassing. Not that Hinashin was likely to care much. She was sometimes even more out-going than he had ever been.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a familiar killer intent wash over him and shivered. It was never a good thing when he felt that. He turned toward his wife, who had chakra visibly pouring off of her, with what he hoped was an innocent smile.

"Er…Something wrong, Hinata-chan?"

She turned cold eyes on him, putting the Hyuuga's Byakugan to its full intimidating effect. "_What_ have you been teaching our daughter?"

Naruto waved his hands in front of him, trying to both defend himself and wave off any guilt directed at him. "I didn't teach her anything like this! I haven't been anywhere near her training all month! I've been training Hotaru-chan, remember? Konohamaru was the one that was teaching her."

If anything, Hinata's eyes got even colder, causing Naruto to begin to sweat. Then, to his immense relief, she turned away from him to look back at the arena. "Konohamaru is going to have a stern talking to when I next see him."

Naruto felt slightly sorry for the younger jounin, but there was no way he was bringing his wife's wrath upon him. He had felt that enough times to know better. The boy would have to fend for himself.

The rest of the kage box, who had watched the interaction in interest, couldn't help the amusement they got from it. Besides, Konohamaru had it coming; he had been pranking practically everybody lately.

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Sokudo blinked owlishly. He turned toward Katame in confusion. "Did she really just flash us?"

The blue haired girl didn't even turn away from the fight while answering. "Hai."

Sokudo just stared. "But…why?"

"It did take out the clone," the Leaf genin noted.

The Mist nin, still stunned at the sight he had been shown, even if it was a fair distance away. "But did she have to angle it at us?"

"Considering that the audience is opposite us, she would be giving them a view if she had angled it in any other way. As such, she would show her body to less people if she did it in this direction."

Sokudo considered that. "I suppose that makes sense. Though, now, I'm going to be a bit distracted during my match…" His eyes narrowed slightly as he turned toward Katame. "Why aren't you mad about this? Most kunoichi would view it as an affront to their skills…"

The Konoha shinobi gave him an annoyed glance. "Why? It's only looking, not a real issue."

The Kiri nin pondered asking her to show him hers for just a moment before looking away, blushing. He didn't need to be turning into a pervert…And he certainly didn't need the distraction.

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Hari felt his clone disperse and turned to see what had happened. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Hinashin pulling her shirt back down. He cursed silently, wishing he hadn't replaced himself with a clone in order to set up a bunch of traps in the wooded portion of the combat arena. The image would have been more than worth the loss. It made him wish he could use Shadow Clone, as he had heard they gave their user their memories when they dispersed.

He decided it would be a good idea to take up a hiding place among the trees and see what his opponent did. When he looked back at her, she had a hand up in a seal. A second later, she turned the hard gaze of an activated Byakugan directly on him.

He cursed again, deactivating his Toton Jutsu (Transparency Jutsu); it would be pointless if she could simply see his chakra. Stupid doujutsu.

To his surprise, she started rushing directly at him. He wasn't sure if she didn't notice that he had set up traps nearly everywhere between them or if she simply didn't care. He got his answer when she activated his first trap. Hadn't noticed them then.

He watched the kunai from his trap fling at her. Her eyes widened when she saw them. Despite being caught flat-footed, she still managed to twist around the first few and only receive small cuts from the remaining ones. He scowled as she just continued to come toward him. She activated his second trap by stepping on yet another wire. Without even removing her gaze from him, she leapt into the air, caught two of them, and shifted around the next couple, once again only barely receiving any cuts. With hardly a pause, she threw them towards Hari. He hopped out of the way, landing on a low tree branch nearby.

His eyes narrowed on her. _"Fine. Let's see how she takes the next set of traps,"_ he thought irritably.

His next trap sent a flurry of kunai from directly above Hinashin. Hari was really beginning to hate the Byakugan because she didn't even have to look to be able to dodge out of the way. He couldn't help but smirk, though, as those kunai activated three more traps at once. Hinashin suddenly had another set of shuriken, a net, and a couple explosive tagged kunai coming at her.

Hari saw the girl's face screw up in concentration. She stopped where she was and spread her legs. Then, the green haired genin saw her begin to rotate. He immediately recognized the Kaiten (Rotation). Within a second, she was spinning with the blue glow of chakra surrounding her.

The shuriken were deflected, having stood no chance. The net caught on the spinning form and stayed, giving Hari the momentary hope that it would capture her, only for it to be torn to shreds. The explosive tags went off just as they made contact with Hinashin. Hari crossed his fingers, praying for it to have had _some_ effect on her.

When the smoke cleared, he found himself disappointed. She stood there, just finishing up her rotation, with nary a scratch on her. He scowled, drawing some of the few weapons he had left. Just the first fight and he was already running close to empty…This would not be good.

He jumped down to the ground and threw two kunai side-by-side. He watched Hinashin flatten herself between them before starting to run at him once more. "Haven't you realized that I'm just going to keep coming at you yet, no matter what you send at me?"

Hari just smirked, pulling on some nearly invisible wires, attached to the last two kunai. The blonde's eyes widened when she felt the string dig into her side as the weapons curved behind her to begin to circle her, further restraining her. At the last second, she brought one of her hands in front of her chest, where it got pinned.

Almost immediately, she channeled chakra through her hand and began cutting the wire. "This won't hold me long," she said calmly, trying to distract her opponent while she broke free.

Unfortunately, he was already running through hand seals. "I know." He quickly finished and grasped both of the strings firmly in each hand. "Raiton: Denryuu no Jutsu" (Lightning Style: Electric Current Jutsu)

He watched as Hinashin tense in pain as an invisible electric current ran through her. He doubted the audience had much of an idea as to what was going on, but it didn't matter. He planned to disable her now and force her to withdraw.

He cursed when she disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the hell did she manage to replace herself with a Shadow Clone? He didn't have much time to think about it, as he was forced to leap away from a couple of incoming Jyuuken strikes from behind. He was surprised when he turned around to find her breathing somewhat hard with a few char marks along her skin.

"That hurt, damn it!" The indignant look in her eyes made Hari scowl. So, she had substituted while already held in the jutsu. Worse, it seemed like his jutsu was more of an inconvenience than anything. And that had been one of the few jutsu that Jiraiya-sensei had taught him, saying it would go well with his fighting style. The masked genin was beginning to get the feeling that he didn't really stand much of a chance in this fight…

That was when his eyes came across a line along her chest where the electricity running through the wire had cut through her shirt and bra. The only thing keeping it from flapping open and giving him a taste of what his clone had seen before it was dispelled was a small amount of solid shirt that had been caught underneath her hand. Nevertheless, it still gave him a good view of some nice flesh along her breast.

He let out a perverted giggle. He was a little unsettled by the irritated look she sent his way. It promised good and yet terrible things.

"You want a look, ya pervert?" Hari gulped, knowing that what was to follow would probably be very bad for him. "Fine then!" His eyes widened at those words. Was she going to do the same thing to him that she had done to his clone? Hari could only hope.

Hinashin brought her hands up into a single seal and announced the jutsu that would end the match.

"Orioke no Jutsu!" (Sexy Jutsu)

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Taka watched the fight with baited breath. There was only so much cheering one could do before it became repetitive.

It didn't help that Hari seemed to be struggling. None of his traps were having any effect, and that was his primary method of fighting. Yet, his opponent seemed just as unable to get close to him, which, if Taka remembered correctly, was her primary method of fighting. It seemed they were almost at a stalemate.

She couldn't help but cheer when Hari caught the girl in his wires and electrocuted her. Of course, that turned into a Shadow Clone and her teammate was forced to dodge, but it was still _something_.

However, what happened next made her jaw drop in shock.

Apparently, it stunned nearly everyone because much of the crowd went silent.

Sure, she had used the Hiramekasu no Jutsu (Flash no Jutsu) earlier, but she had at least made sure the audience couldn't see. _Everyone_ could see what she was doing now. And sadly, it had worked. Hari had been sent flying back with a stream of blood flowing from his nose, clearly unconscious.

Taka leaned forward. "Did she really just-?

Kizui chuckled perversely. "Oh, yes she did." He brought a hand up to wipe away some blood that had come out of his nose.

Beside him, Tounyo was rubbing his eyes in a mixture of disbelief and trying to get the image out of his mind. Rei was blinking, still processing that what they were seeing was indeed real. She glanced at the two sensei next to her to find Kiba laughing hysterically and Shino looking away with what, for him, passed as annoyance. She heard her teacher murmur, "It's another Naruto." Was that an exasperated tone? She couldn't be sure, but it wasn't quite his usual monotone. Konohamaru-sensei glowed with pride, making it clear where she had gotten her technique from. Taka had to resist rolling her eyes, mentally noting never to allow that man to teach her.

Glancing around, mostly just to keep her eyes off the scene in the arena, she found Koukatsu with his hand over his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. His sensei was beside him with a look of horror on her face. Beside them, Lee-sensei had covered his disciple's eyes in an effort to protect her, looking away himself. Surprisingly, both had gone silent.

The Suna team wasn't fairing much better. Jiheki was staring, blood slowly dripping out of his nose. Ichijin's eyes had narrowed, guaranteeing that the blond girl would be getting a firm talking to when the wind user got a hold of her. Their sensei had her mouth pressed into a thin line, either angry or trying to suppress laughter, Taka couldn't tell.

When Taka looked back at the fight, she was glad to see the girl had transformed back. The girl was grinning up a storm, already flashing a "V for victory" sign. The proctor was pinching the bridge of his nose. Briefly, he went over and checked on Hari. With clear reluctance, he announced the end of the match. "Winner: Uzumaki Hyuuga Hinashin!"

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When Naruto heard the name of the technique that Hinashin was going to use, he immediately began to sweat._ "Damn it, Konohamaru! I didn't teach her that technique for a reason, you moron!_"

Not a second later, he felt killer intent rush out of his wife in a wave. He visibly tensed. He laughed nervously, slowly turning to face Hinata. The rest of the kage's box watched the interaction in amusement. The great Naruto reduced to a quivering mass by the one of only two people who could still do that to him.

Naruto found Hinata staring down at the floor in front of her, her hair blocking any view of her face. The blond waited to be rebuffed to the extreme, only to be met with silence, the killer intent being the only thing showing his wife's anger.

"You taught her _that_ technique?" Hinata finally asked, her voice eerily calm. Naruto knew to be afraid of that voice.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he rushed to assure her. "It was Konohamaru! He must have taught it to her in the month since the preliminaries! I had nothing to do with this!"

With deliberate slowness, she raised her icy gaze to meet his. "But _you_ taught it to _him,_" she pointed out frostily. "And without that, _he_ wouldn't have been able to teach it to _her_."

Naruto laughed nervously again. "Well, no, but I was young and immature then! I've grown up since then!" Tsunade snorted beside him. He sent her a quick glare before returning his pleading gaze on his wife. "_Please _don't make me do _that_!"

Hinata turned her eyes back on the arena. "You'll both be taking part in it," she stated firmly, her killer intent weakening only slightly, the matter evidently concluded.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Hinata leaned forward to look past Naruto at Tsunade, who had an amused gleam in her eye. "Hokage-sama, could I ask you a favor?"

Tsunade nodded, eager to find out what Naruto's punishment was. "What do you need?"

Hinata – meek, shy little Hinata – smirked, causing her husband to go an interesting shade of white. "Just for Naruto and Konohamaru to be allowed to teach the subject of history for a day at the academy."

The Godaime raised an eyebrow. That was a job that required patience, all on its own. Add to that the most boring, and thus patience requiring, subject, and you had a test that only the most laid-back of people could pass without yelling at the students. Even Iruka could rarely manage a day without shouting at some student or other (though, to be fair, they usually deserved it).

It would be the perfect punishment for brash, impatient Naruto.

She glanced at him to find a pleading look on his face, practically begging her not to make him go through that. She was probably his last hope. Tsunade only smirked at him, causing him to drop his gaze in resignation.

"I would be happy to allow this." Then, to add insult to injury, she added. "And if they don't do a successful job, I will require them to come back every day until they do. And of course, they won't be allowed to be in the same room and distract each other from their punishments."

Hinata, with a wicked gleam in her eye, nodded. "That's even better, Hokage-sama. Thank you." She turned back to the arena floor, satisfied that she had gotten the message across.

Naruto could only sit and pout, resigned to his day of torture in the near future.

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"Could Kihou Sokudo and Hyuuga Nebin please come down to the fighting ring," called the proctor to the balcony above as one former combatant was revived by the medics and the other was given a quick check-up.

Sokudo smirked, glancing at his opponent. The boy seemed almost like a statue, he was standing so still. Slowly, deliberately, Nebin turned to look at him with cold white eyes. The Mist nin felt the warning that was portrayed in that single glance. Then, the Hyuuga broke eye contact and started toward the stairs.

Sokudo had to push back a shiver. The sheer ruthlessness of that boy's eyes startled him. It reminded the blue haired boy of some of the elder shinobi back in Mist, who had lived through the days of the Bloody Mist. Luckily, he had become used to such silent interactions and was only slightly perturbed by what had just occurred; and that was more due to the fact that it had come from such a young boy than anything.

It was at this point that he wished he had Magusa, or even Subaya-sensei, there with him. A small "Good luck" was all he needed to be back to his normal fighting form. Hell, he could even use Taka, if only so he could annoy her to get a rise.

As it was, the only person he was even remotely close to among the examinees was Katame, and she had never been one for showing affection. He turned a quick glance on the crowd on the opposite side of the arena in a futile attempt to find someone he knew. To his surprise, he managed to find the group of Konoha nin his age sitting together.

It didn't take him long after that to find the shock of red hair among them (or rather two shocks, but it was fairly easy to identify the one he wanted). He gazed at her for a long moment before her eyes traveled to his own. Their gazes locked and he felt excitement stir within him. To his surprise, she smiled at him and gave a brief wave. A silent "Good luck," from across the stadium.

He smiled back and nodded, back to his usual self. With a grin, he hopped over the rail to the arena below. He landed right next to Nebin as he came out of the stairs. He gave the boy a smirk, which got him a raised eyebrow in return.

This was going to be one memorable fight, he could tell.


	41. Successor to the Shadow Sword

Again, I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. In all honesty, I simply lost track of time. The next thing I knew, it was midnight on Saturday night. I'll try to be better about that. . R and R, please.

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**Successor to the Shadow Sword**

Hason paused in his walk. Beside him, Zakyou stopped as well. They were in a side hallway of the domed arena, almost completely cut off from the crowd outside, though the loud cheering could still be heard. The pair waited for almost a minute before Hason rolled his eyes.

"It seems we've been caught," he commented lightly. "Shall we make a run for it?"

His fellow undercover Sound ninja grunted. "Let's."

Immediately, a group of ANBU moved to block all exits. The pair darted toward the nearest exit, Hason throwing a set of kunai in an attempt to stall the ANBU from cutting them off. Two of the Leaf shinobi dodged out of the way, but one blocked with his short ninja-to. That one ANBU was now the only thing standing between the two Oto nin and the exit.

Hason picked up speed a bit and lashed out with a fist. The Konoha nin ducked under the blow and moved to make a cut along Hason's stomach, only to feel a foot connect with his side, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

Hason gave a quick nod of thanks to Zakyou for his assistance before darting for the exit again, two teams of ANBU hot on their heels.

The hallway remained empty for nearly a minute.

Then, two figures dropped from the ceiling, allowing the genjutsu to drop as they did so. Hason smirked at the path that the ANBU had taken. "It's times like this that I'm glad you know the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu), Zakyou-kun. When combined with my illusions, it makes an excellent distraction."

Zakyou nodded, taking a deep breath. "I only wish it didn't take so much out of me," he said, his voice sounding only mildly labored.

Hason rolled his eyes. "Would've taken more out of you to fight those goons, so quit complaining." He turned to the path that the clones had originally been heading toward. "Now, let's go. We've got a VIP box to crash."

With a nod from Zakyou, the two started to walk forward. No use wasting energy getting there.

After all, they would need it for the fight to come.

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Nebin stared with cold eyes across at the Mist nin, who was doing a few stretches to get warmed up, both completely ignoring the proctor between them. After a few seconds, Sokudo stood back up, smirking slightly.

"Ya know, I was a little irritated when I found out I would be fighting you. I know that the Hyuuga fighting style is to get up close and then disable their opponent with quick strikes. I can't really even let you touch me. A month ago, that, along with the Byakugan's ability to see through many obstacles including my Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu), completely counteracted my fighting style, being as limited in ninjutsu as I am."

Nebin smirked arrogantly at the other boy. "So you realize how futile this fight is. Understanding your limits is a key to being a chuunin. Perhaps, they will look favorably upon your forfeiture and promote you, but I doubt it."

Nebin raised an eyebrow when his opponent chuckled. "I wasn't done, _genius_," he responded, using the final term with a sort of derogatory sarcasm. "A month ago, that would have been true. I would have stood no chance against you. But that's not what irritates me. What irritates me is that I spent a month working on a jutsu and I don't even get to keep it as an ace up my sleeve for one battle." He paused long enough to pull out a kunai. He glanced at the proctor. "I should probably wait to use my technique until you've started the match, huh?" The slight sarcasm hid the implied 'begin the match' without being rude.

The Uchiha scowled and turned to Nebin. "Ready?" At the Hyuuga's nod, he raised his hand. "Hajime!"

Sokudo immediately brought the kunai up in front of him and started a set of seals around the handle. Nebin paused and waited. If he let the boy use the technique and then overcame it, that would farther prove how strong he was and how ready he was for the chuunin rank. He smirked confidently. This would seal his spot among the ninja ranks.

Sokudo finished the seals. "Ninpou: Ittoukage no Jutsu!" (Secret Art: Shadow Sword Jutsu)

Nebin watched as the kunai between his foe's hands began to grow into a long, completely black blade, reminiscent of the form of a ninja-to. As he lowered the blade to his side, Nebin noticed, having activated his Byakugan, how small tendrils of his clothing were fluttering in the direction of the weapon, as if being pulled to it by some unknown force. A small piece ripped off and flew to the blade, only to disintegrate as soon as it hit the blackness.

Nebin knew then that he couldn't let himself get touched by that weapon.

"Consider the playing field leveled." Sokudo smirked.

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Magusa was slightly disappointed to see Hari lose to Hinashin. She had hoped he would go far so she could continue to support him. But the loss was understandable. The girl was the daughter of the famous Uzumaki Naruto, after all, and was also a part of the Hyuuga clan. Plus, she was a year older than him. He had stood little chance, really.

The Mist nin took heart in the fact that he had still made a good appearance though. Maybe he would still get promoted.

Her attention was drawn back to the arena as she heard the proctor begin the match, and she immediately began cheering loudly for her teammate.

Not ten seconds later, she fell silent, mouth agape. She stared at the blackness that had surrounded his kunai in shock. Eventually, she managed to turn her gaze on her sensei.

"I thought you said you didn't want to teach him that technique yet?"

She noticed how Toukan was also looking at Subaya-sensei curiously. The man raised an eyebrow.

"I did not. However, I knew that his standard technique would not work on at least two of the remaining combatants. As such, I felt he needed something to counteract their advantage."

Magusa nodded in understanding. That made sense. Then, something her teacher had said to her before came back to her. "Does that mean-"

"Yes, Sokudo-kun is to be my successor."

Magusa gave a mildly impressed look. "Awesome."

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A girl around 14 with dark brown hair pulled into two tails on either side of her face and one tail behind her pursed her lips in annoyance at the noise the crowd around her made as the next fight started. Her gray eyes narrowed in frustration. Couldn't they contain themselves at least a little? Taking a deep breath, she pulled her dark turquoise kimono top, which had a blue rose embroidered on its back, closer around herself to calm down, her sea green obi and knee-length shorts shifting slightly with the movement. She ignored the slight chill of the fishnet along her elbows, used to it since she had worn the outfit for years. Properly calmed, she reached up and played with the scroll strapped to her back, shifting it around so she could sit more comfortably.

As her hands came back to in front of her, they strayed temporarily to the hitai-ate on her forehead as her memories travelled to the events that had occurred to her village, to Amegakure.

After the Akatsuki had been defeated and sent into hiding, the village had been sent into a spiral of chaos. A couple of the larger hidden villages had tried to send aid, including Konoha, but it had done little good. It was during this time that the girl had heard about the strength of the Akatsuki. She had quickly taken to emulating, at least in fighting style, one of its strongest members. Her desire to create order out of the chaos encouraged her to become as strong as she could. That was, perhaps, what started her on the path to being a ninja.

Luckily, before she even started at the ninja academy, a leader stepped up. Out of that anarchy, he created a stable nation that was slowly on its way to joining the five great nations. She glanced sideways at the man, his regal aged appearance striking her to the core, as it always did. His robes were a noble white, fitting in well with the other rich people around them. She and her two teammates were more out of place here than he was, even though they were only acting as his guard. He caught her glance and raised an eyebrow, a soft smile on his face.

She smiled back softly. She would never understand why he took such a liking to her. Ever since she had graduated, he had kept a close eye on her. He had even selected her to come with him, a measly chuunin, even though both of her current teammates were jounin. His deep voice surprised her slightly.

"Have you noticed it, Kiyoko-chan?"

Kiyoko raised an eyebrow, sending chakra out to the small white pieces of her clothes that she had left around the area inconspicuously, so tiny they looked like white crumbs. The information she received from them confused her.

"The Konoha ANBU are moving."

"Indeed. It seems something is going on."

"Should we move to assist or interfere?"

Her village leader shook his head. "No. Relations with the Leaf village are strained as is. Instead, we will wait and if it looks like we can support effectively, we will." Kiyoko saw him look to the jounin on his other side, who nodded his agreement.

"Yes, sir." With that, Nagamori Kiyoko turned back to the arena, trying her best to ignore the annoying noise around her.

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Sokudo rushed at Nebin, his short, dark blade held ready to slash. With that single technique, he had effectively made it so that whenever either of them landed a hit, they would disable their opponent in that region. There was only the small difference that his was more of an external damage, designed for severing limbs and cutting gashes, while Nebin's was more of internal damage, aiming directly for the organs and chakra system.

Sokudo was unsurprised when his foe merely rolled out of the way of his diagonal slash. The Hyuuga brought his hand up to jab at the Mist nin's arm. Scowling, Sokudo was forced to jump away to avoid the blow. Nebin followed after him, lashing out with two more chakra enhanced stabs. Sokudo twisted out of the way of the first one and brought his sword up to block the other, forcing his foe to halt his attack or have his hand cut in half.

They both retreated a short distance and appraised the other. Nebin had the small advantage of having two weapons, two hands that he could channel chakra through. However, Sokudo could block without penalty as long as he used the sword, whereas the Konoha nin had to dodge. This was definitely going to be a short fight…

Realizing this, the pair moved forward to engage each other once more.

Sokudo ducked under his foe's first strike and moved to slash his stomach. Nebin hopped over the attack, moving forward in an effort to hamper the Mist nin's ability to swing with extreme close range. Sokudo sidestepped, circling in a way that would allow him to control the distance to an extent. Nebin lashed out with a series of quick Jyuuken strikes at his foe's chest, forcing the Mist nin to dodge, stepping backward in the process. Then, Sokudo brought his blade up in a high arc.

Realizing he didn't have the time to dodge, Nebin pumped chakra throughout his body. "Kaiten!" (Rotation) His body began to rotate, a blue aura surrounding him, just in time to catch the blade with his technique.

Sokudo grunted as his blade hit resistance. He barely managed to complete his swing, using more effort than he would have liked. He hopped back as Nebin did the same, noting the splash of blood that fell on the ground between them. Sokudo lowered his blade momentarily.

Across from him, Nebin nursed the cut along the middle of his hand. He looked up at The Kiri shinobi in shock. "You pierced the Hyuuga clan's Ultimate Defense…"

Sokudo raised an eyebrow. "To be fair, my sensei told me to expect to be able to cut through anything smoothly, so the fact that I had to put so much force behind the attack and still only managed a small cut says something about your defense." He brought his sword-hand up in front of him, emphasizing how it had shrunk significantly. "Besides, it seems you did some damage to my weapon." He paused to smirk at the Konoha genin, who had held a satisfied look on his face. "Unfortunately for you, I can reform it." With a flare of chakra, the blade returned to its original size, leaving him mildly out of breath. Nebin scowled, clenching his injured fist, allowing the blood to flow between his fingers.

Taking a deep breath, the Hyuuga calmed himself. Then, he brought his hands up in a defensive form of the Jyuuken, adjusting it slightly to allow for better dodging rather than blocking. Seeing this, Sokudo smirked slightly.

"Normally, I like moving at the same time as my opponent, so we are both on the offensive at the same time," he said in a neutral voice, "But if you're going to be such a girl about it…" That got a twitch out of his enemy's eye. "I guess I'll make the first move."

He darted forward, initiating combat with a horizontal slash at about waist height. Nebin took half a step back to avoid it and moved forward to retaliate. He feinted a jab at Sokudo's shoulder, causing him to shift to the side slightly off balance, and then the Hyuuga took his chance to jab for his opponent's wrist, hoping to disarm him of his chakra-based weapon. To his surprise, Sokudo managed to pull back somewhat, forcing him to strike the hilt of the blade, sending it flying off to the side.

Sokudo leapt back to put some distance between them, seeing as how he could no longer maintain a melee battle. Nebin stayed where he was, a confident smirk on his face. He glanced at the kunai. "I'm surprised to see that you can maintain that jutsu even though you are not touching the weapon, but it will not matter. You are disarmed. You cannot win. Even should you try to make a new one, I would not give you the time again. You are even in range of my Hakke. I give you one more chance to surrender."

Sokudo only looked at him like he was an idiot before starting a set of seals. He hadn't even completed two before Nebin took a couple steps forward, calling the name of his jutsu. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho! Two!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms) With his training over the past month, the blows were much faster than they had been in his match against Taka and were almost unavoidable. Sokudo barely moved enough for the strikes to miss the chakra centers, lifting a hand forward inconspicuously.

"Four!" It soon became obvious that the Mist nin's objective was no longer avoiding the blows, just preventing them from hitting him along his chakra system.

"Eight!" The remaining sets of strikes were almost a blur, with Sokudo barely moving enough to keep himself from going totally limp.

"Sixteen! Thirty-two! Sixty-four!"

By the end, Sokudo had a limp arm and looked to be having difficulty standing, but he somehow held his ground. In front of him, he held a kunai towards his opponent's stomach, flickering with the last remnants of his shadow sword technique. He smirked weakly before grimacing in pain.

Nebin, wide-eyed, could feel a burning sensation in his sternum. Knowing he wasn't going to like what he saw, he slowly turned his eyes on his abdomen. He found a large hole in his stomach, piercing all the way through.

"I guess I forgot to mention that I have a jutsu that can switch which kunai I apply my Ninpou: Ittoukage no Jutsu (Secret Art: Shadow Sword Jutsu) to. Oops My bad."

He watched as the pain finally caught up with Nebin after the adrenalin high of using his Hakke, causing him to collapse unconscious. Sokudo watched with strained patience as the proctor went over to check on him.

"Winner: Kihou Sokudo!" he shouted when it was clear that the Hyuuga was unconscious.

The blue haired Mist nin let out a sigh of relief and let his body fall lifelessly to the ground. After so many Jyuuken hits, it hurt just to move a finger. He let his eyes close weakly, glad it was over. "Consider that payback for beating my rival," he muttered before letting the darkness take him as well.

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Taka stared with wide eyes. Never would she have thought that Sokudo could take out the genius of the Hyuuga clan. And to think that she had managed to pull out a draw against the Mist nin. Clearly, he had improved a lot since they had fought. She doubted she could beat him again. Defeating Nebin was an amazing accomplishment.

The shock of this news didn't last long however.

"Alright! Good job, Sokudo!"

Just as the final word left her mouth, said male Mist nin slumped to the ground, causing a gasp to resonate throughout the crowd. Taka looked down at him worriedly. A few seconds later, the audience erupted in deafening cheers. Despite the fact that many of them had lost their bets, it seemed that the fight had been entertaining enough to make up for it.

Taka could only gaze on silently as both combatants were taken from the arena on stretchers. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced over and found Shino-sensei looking down at her.

"You should go after him. You will be a nervous wreck if you do not."

Taka let out a sigh of relief. She knew that his words were true, but she would never have admitted them to herself. She stood up and started toward the aisle, pausing only momentarily when she heard her sensei's deep voice again.

"While you are there, why don't you check on Hari?"

She nodded. She rather doubted he was seriously injured considering the nature of his defeat, but it was still a good idea. More anxious than she would like to admit, she took off up the stairs at a brisk


	42. Showing the Public

((I actually updated on time this time! . Anyway, let me know what you think.))

**Showing the Public**

A man that looked around the age of thirty, with high cheekbones, a square chin, and a goatee, stared with hazel green eyes, giving the man in front of him a dark look. His thin, but still strong build, tensed in anger, his surprisingly hairy arms and legs puffing up. The baby blue sleeveless shirt that he wore moved with his increasingly ragged breathing as his hands gripped the front of his dark blue cargo pants.

"What da ya mean, 'he's dead'?"

The feminine man in front of him pushed his long blue hair out of his face. "Like I said, Hokori-san, he was killed twelve years ago by a man named Koudoukou Da-su. Kuroji had just killed the man's wife and Da-su followed him. After the fight, I found both of them dead, one with a sword through his heart, the other a crushed chest cavity."

Ookami Hokori grit his teeth, mentally cursing. There went any chance of his revenge. At least the villain had died by the hands of someone like him. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He took a moment to stare at the man in front of him before shaking his head.

"Seeing as how you became his apprentice afta my little fiasco wit him, I'll let ya be. I've no feud wit ya." Hokori turned to leave the small wooden house. He was surprised when he heard the whistle of senbon flying through the air. He spun and caught it in his hand, being sure not to let it pierce his skin. He caught sight of another senbon following after the first and reach up to catch that one as well. Just before he snatched it, he felt a stinging sensation in his back. He grabbed the needle and then turned to glare at the man now behind him, positioning himself so that he could see both the original blue haired man and the new black haired one. He saw the Oto hitai-ate on the second man's head and his eyes narrowed.

He moved to engage the second man, only to stumble over his own two feet. He tried to catch himself, but found that his arms wouldn't respond properly either. He scowled as he landed on the ground face-first. _"Poison!"_

"I apologize, Hokori-san," said the blue haired man as he walked up, "But when I heard that you had performed such a ritual upon yourself, I knew that you would make the perfect subject with which to trade. By offering you up for research, Otokage-sama himself will be willing to come down here for my needs."

Hokori could feel consciousness slipping from him. In a last ditch effort, he flared his chakra, some black mixing in with his normal blue chakra. The man above him just shook his head.

"Not even your demon can help you now. We designed the poison specifically to counter-act its chakra." He watched as Hokori lost consciousness. Then, he turned toward the Oto nin. "Take him to your kage. I want his offered healing as soon as possible." The ninja merely nodded, quickly picking up the body and vanishing in a Shunshin.

The blue haired man turned around and walked further into the house. In one of the doorways, he reached down and opened a hidden compartment in the floor and stepped down the ladder into it. At the bottom was a comatose man laying in a bed connected to numerous medical machines. His chest was dangerously caved in and only the respirator he was attached to kept him breathing. The blue haired man smiled softly.

"Soon, Kuroji-sama. Soon, you will rejoin this world."

Rei watched as Hotaru and her opponent walked out to the middle of the arena, neither in any hurry, though the kunoichi seemed incredibly nervous. Rei glanced at her sensei. "This isn't going to turn out well for Hotaru-chan, is it?" she asked in concern.

Kiba only raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"She's not exactly comfortable using her techniques in front of others, sensei," Rei stated as if it were obvious, which it pretty much was. "With this many people watching, she won't want to use anything."

Kiba grinned. "You forget who she was training with over the last month. If you can't gain confidence with Uzumaki Naruto around, then you're truly hopeless."

The genin turned to her teacher doubtfully. "So, you think he gave her enough confidence to use her clan abilities in front of this large a crowd?" Rei inquired.

The feral jounin's grin only widened. "I've no doubt about it."

The cat nin glared at her sensei. "The girl was hesitant to use her jutsu in front of _us_ even after a month of training and doing missions together. You really think one month with Uzumaki, even if he is famous, is enough to convince her to take that risk with this many people."

"You would be surprised how effective Naruto's version of therapy is," intervened Shino with his deep monotone.

Kiba patted his old teammate's shoulder. "See, even Shino agrees with me. Still think she'll be the same timid girl?"

Rei was about to respond when Tounyo cut in from beside them.

"Ya know, if you'd watch the fight, you'd know for yourself."

Rei turned to the arena. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

Hotaru was extremely nervous about this fight. She was so nervous she could barely walk straight. All these people staring at her, watching. _"What if I make a mistake? What if I'm not good enough?"_ she thought sullenly. At least she knew that they were expecting unusual ninja techniques, just as Naruto-sensei had said. They wouldn't be frightened by her abilities.

At least, that was what she told herself.

She still wasn't sure she truly believed it.

Nevertheless, she had pledged herself to using her kekkei-genkai as soon as the battle begun, no holding back. She knew she wouldn't be able to if she was going to defeat her opponent. She glanced at her foe and shivered at his spider-like suit and mandible-like hood. This guy was not one to be underestimated, especially if his last fight was anything to go by.

When they finally reached the center of the arena, her nervousness spiked, and she had to resist the urge to fidget. When she met Souran's dark eyes, she barely managed to force down her flinch.

"Ready, you two?" asked to proctor.

Hotaru and Souran both nodded. Hotaru's heart was beginning to pound in her chest she was so anxious.

Sasuke raised his hand into the air. "Hajime!"

At almost the exact same time, Hotaru brought her hands up into a seal as Souran pulled the wrapped container off his back, tossing it aside, much like he had in his last match. "Yuureijingan!" (roughly: Eyes of Ghostly Population). Wasting no time at all, she started on another set of seals. Seeing this, her opponent moved forward to engage. Hotaru hopped back, putting more distance between them to give her more time. She finished just half a second before he reached her.

"Seireishiryoku no Jutsu!" (Spirit Sight Jutsu)

Hotaru still had to duck the punch that was coming her way and roll into the crowd of spirits around them. She went to where the number of spirits was thickest to make sure she had lost him before finding him once again, using her eyes' ability to see through the ghosts when she wanted to. Her nervousness had long since been replaced by adrenalin, as she stared at Souran, who had yet to move much since his first attack. She pondered what strategy she should use. She decided that a genjutsu was in order.

Going through a couple quick hand signs, she used the jutsu, basing it on the sight of the spirits around them. "Taiwayuurei no Jutsu!" (Ghost Interaction Jutsu) It would make her foe feel as if every ghost that went anywhere near him was an actual body and would push him around. That combined with another of her techniques, which let her put suggestions into the lackadaisical minds of the ghosts, would let her push him into a corner.

However, she realized halfway through her next set of seals that the genjutsu was having no effect whatsoever. Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she stared at the man, who didn't even seem to be looking around for her. It was then that she realized…

That was Souran's puppet.

She had expected him to use the same strategy as he had the last time, especially when he had tossed his package to the side in the same way. Apparently, he had only been trying to throw her off. It was no wonder her genjutsu wouldn't work.

At that point, the puppet turned its head in her direction and darted directly at her. He had finally managed to pinpoint where she was. She reacted by running straight for the package that the puppet had thrown away. When he noticed this, Souran had the puppet move to intercept, shedding the outer form of Souran as it went. When it was done, it looked very much so the spider that his user was dressed after, its wooden form painted black to better keep to the shadows.

It proceeded to shoot senbon out of its mouth in an attempt to slow her down. Her eyes narrowed. Those needles were no doubt poisoned; she could not let them hit her. She cart-wheeled, allowing the weapons to sail harmlessly past her legs. When she righted, she put on an extra burst of speed, drawing a kunai as she did so.

Even then, she wasn't quite able to reach the wrapped object before the puppet cut her off. It brought up four of its eight spider legs, which then spawned blades at the tips, as it fired more senbon, this time at almost point-blank range. Hotaru, eyes widening, barely managed to twist out of the way of two and deflect the third with her kunai. She quickly closed the distance to prevent it from using any more needles with any real accuracy.

Almost as soon as she entered its range, the puppet lashed out with two of its blades. Hotaru launched herself over the two weapons into a kick. Just before it connected, she saw one of the swords reach out for her stomach. She felt the pinprick of the blade barely breaking her skin before the wooden spider was sent flying toward the opposite side of the arena, skidding to a stop on the ground.

Wasting no time, she moved over to the wrapped package and brought her kunai down on it. She scowled when she heard the thunk of her weapon hitting wood. Sure enough, the bandages fell away to reveal the log that had probably been the subject of his substitution. Now, she would have to find him again…

She took a moment to examine her stomach, unsurprised to find a small point of blood slowly leaking out. She grit her teeth. If she knew the Suna puppet users like she thought she did, she already had poison running through her veins. It wasn't as large a dose as was usually given during battle, so she would have more time than most, but she knew it would still slowly incapacitate her.

She was brought out of her musings by the sound of a blade whistling toward her. She leapt out of the way just in time to avoid three of the puppets sword-like legs as they swept through the area in a wide arc. She scowled at the wooden spider. She didn't have time to deal with it.

Instead, she darted towards the trees on the side of the arena. She had no doubt that that was where he was hiding. As she ran, she started a set of seals. Upon finding a spirit that looked sufficiently battle capable, what looked like a former contestant in these exams at around the age of 15, she activated her jutsu. "Seireigyo no Jutsu" (Spirit Control Jutsu)

She felt herself connect with the ghost and started running side-by-side with it. When she reached the edge of the wooded area, she jumped into the trees, doing her best to keep an eye on the puppet while looking for Souran.

However, she knew she had to be hasty so as to find him before the poison took hold in her. As a result, when she caught movement in her peripheral vision, she risked glancing away from the wooden spider to look more closely at it. It turned out to be nothing of importance, but when she looked back, the puppet was gone.

She scowled as she jumped to the next branch. This match was becoming incredibly annoying. It was then that she caught sight of Souran's form standing on one of the branches, looking right at her. Her eyes narrowed. There was a fairly good chance that this was the puppet again, though how it got the disguise back on so quickly was beyond her.

She shifted direction so that the spirit connected to her was heading straight for him, Hotaru at its side. Souran pulled out a kunai and tossed it at her, but she merely pulled out her own kunai and blocked it. She continued on her path to attack her opponent, only for her vision to suddenly fade out and back in, disorienting her. She blinked, trying to find her balance once again.

At that point, her companion was practically on top of Souran, who stepped to the side. Hotaru managed to coordinate herself just in time to reach out, causing the spirit to reach out and grab the hood of her foe's uniform. She caught the other genin's wide eyes as he was jerked along with her toward the ground. She pulled her arms beneath her, positioning Souran beneath her ghost so that he would cushion its fall.

A second later, they all landed with a crash, throwing up dust. The impact jarred Hotaru's arms and sent her senses tingling. She barely managed to stay upright even though she had landed on her hands and knees. She heard coughing coming from the direction that her foe and spirit had landed, so she could only assume that it had actually been the real Souran. She waited for the dust to clear to make sure she still had him held down.

She grinned when it came into view and they were both still there, her spirit with its hands on Souran's shoulders holding him down. She was about to pull her leg back to knee him further into the ground when she saw one of his hands start to move. Less than a second later, she was caught in a sticky net and sent flying, causing her companion to fly off of Souran as well. She skidded to a stop, still stuck in the net even as her eyesight blurred. Somehow she could tell that the web was attached to the abdomen of the puppet that hopped out of the forest.

Realizing she had lost, Hotaru let her body collapse to the ground completely, allowing her jutsu to drop as well. Souran approached her, wiping the blood from his lip. Hotaru tried to glare but found it difficult to do so with the woozy feeling in her head. She tried to struggle to her feet but the net only got her more trapped. Eventually, she sighed in defeat and just lay on the ground. She saw her opponent give her a respectful nod before she closed her eyes.

"Winner: Subaku no Souran!"

That was the last thing she heard before unconsciousness claimed her.

Rei stared in complete shock at the arena below her. Hotaru had not only used her bloodline, but had used a number of her jutsu to go with it, all without a second thought. That was _not_ the Hotaru she knew. If Uzumaki Naruto could do that to her in just one month, he _deserved_ to be a legend. Everyone else could barely touch the insecurities of that girl.

"Impressive fight," Tounyo commented lightly. "Perhaps not as good as some of the others, but considering this is the girl that was unwilling to show her potential back in the academy, it was very surprising."

"I told you, Naruto knows what he's doing," Kiba said happily.

"Would it count as a threesome if she used her powers during intercourse?" Kizui thought aloud.

Tounyo brought a hand up to his forehead to massage his temples. "Really, Kizui? That's what you're thinking about?"

"And I wonder what it would feel like to have intercourse with a ghost," the white haired boy continued as if he hadn't heard his teammate. "Or what if she had sex with a spirit she was controlling?"

Rei couldn't help but wonder if this was what Tounyo had to deal with all the time. "It wouldn't work," she stated calmly, despite the slight blush on her cheeks.

Kizui tilted his head in her direction. "Why not?"

"First off, she can't mess with the clothes of the spirit, so unless she found an already naked one, she wouldn't be able to get past the materialized cloth. Secondly, whatever movement she takes, the spirit takes as well, meaning that if she moved forward, it would move in the exact same direction."

"So, they wouldn't be able to thrust toward one another?" Kizui asked, making sure he had clarification.

"Exactly."

Tounyo cut in with a hand on the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Thank you for this _enlightening_ discussion, but could we _please_ get back to a more suitable topic?"

"Could she at least control two spirits to thrust at each other?" Kizui asked, completely ignoring his blond companion. Tounyo just rolled his eyes and looked at the arena floor, ignoring the lot of them.

Konohamaru chuckled, reaching forward from his position behind them to rub Kizui's head affectionately. "I love you, kid."

The luck nin turned around with a slightly worried look on his face. "You're not a butt-pirate, are you?"

His sensei only chuckled again. "No, Kizui, I'm not."

The boy grinned. "Okay, good. Then, I love you, too, sensei."

Rei only shook her head. She really felt sorry for Tounyo.


	43. Let the Chaos Begin

**Let the Chaos Begin**

Uppun strolled down the stairs alongside his opponent, heading towards the arena floor. Uppun took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. He couldn't help it. Although he hated many of the people around him and he was confident in his abilities, they still affected his potential status as a chuunin. His anxiety simply made his adrenalin begin pumping through his system preemptively.

He was surprised when Nami brought her hands up into a seal just before they left the staircase. The Cloud nin tensed as he felt the chakra of the technique wash over and around him. Realizing he was not the target of the jutsu, he turned narrowed eyes on the older girl. She simply gave him an impudent grin.

"Don't worry. That won't affect our fight at all."

Still suspicious, he turned back forward as they walked out onto the battleground. The immediate cheers of the crowd brought Uppun's anxiety back full force. He was ready for this; he just had to convince his body of that.

Hitayio stared at Chiku as the older genin lay unconscious in his hospital bed. Something was very wrong. There was no way that Chiku should have been defeated, even if it was by Katame. He also still hadn't released his sword, despite everything the doctors had tried. At least this had caused a small bit of worry, as they had set up an ANBU guard that stood in the room watching over the teen, just as Hitayio did.

It certainly didn't help that Chiku seemed completely uninjured. The medics couldn't even find anything to fix. Nothing about this added up.

Thus, he had sat there for at least half an hour, watching the elder genin, knowing something was going to happen. He just had to wait for it, and he would be there when the action occurred.

He was surprised when, quite suddenly, a spike of chakra went through the boy's system and, immediately, Chiku's eyes burst open. Apparently, the ANBU was stunned as well, because he didn't have time to react before the Kiri nin had shot up, sword darting out. The ANBU let out a gasp as the blade plunged into his chest. Chiku pulled the blade out, allowing the ANBU to collapse to the ground in a heap and turned a hard gaze on Hitayio, who had fallen back into a defensive stance, kunai drawn. Chiku just smirked, giving him an arrogant look. Without a word, he stood and darted out the door.

Scowling, Hitayio followed after, coming out into the hallway to find him already shooting down the hallway, sword eviscerating anyone who got in his way. He took just half a second to glance into each of the rooms, but he was still extremely fast. Hitayio ran after him, only barely able to keep the distance between them the same.

The Konoha genin could only wonder what the teenager was after.

Sasuke watched the two combatants square off in front of him. "Are you ready?" He asked the pair of them. He received only one nod in return. He glanced at the girl beside him, his eyes narrowing when she found her looking at him rather than her opponent.

"Ready? Yes. For a fight in the chuunin exam?" She smirked, almost predatorily. "Not gonna happen." She brought her hands into a seal.

Explosions rocked the entirety of Konoha. Seals, hidden by nearly invisible ink and a powerful genjutsu, activated, blowing up many of the important buildings throughout the village.

As soon as Sasuke looked away, Sharingan already activating, he felt a foot connect with his stomach, propelling him violently into the air, fast enough that he would fly out of the arena. Before any ninja in the arena could react, he was already over the wall, followed closely by Nami.

Shinobi around the stadium took action, most moving toward the explosions, which continued to go off, to assist and defend where possible. A small team went to help Sasuke.

Sasuke had, of course, already gotten to his feet and into a defensive position, ignoring the pain in his stomach. He immediately turned his Sharingan eyes on Nami as she landed opposite him. She quickly went through a set of seals, and the Uchiha's eyes widened as his Sharingan told him what they would do. Instantly, a purple wall of chakra erupted from some more previously invisible ink that had been drawn around the edges of the roof they were on. Sasuke cursed, recognizing the technique as one of Orochimaru's old ones, adapted to fit a seal rather than four different people.

The team of ANBU that had moved to assist him landed on the wall surrounding the arena. They looked like there were going to leap across the street at the wall until Sasuke yelled out to them.

"Stop! That is the Shishienjin no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation)" He glanced at each of the four corners to find even more intricate seals placed there, apparently designed to replace the four people that should be performing the technique. "You'll not be able to get through this technique," he concluded for the ANBU, turning his gaze back to Nami.

The teenager smirked. "Very observant, Sasuke-kun," she said with a slight pur. "You certainly earned that reputation of yours." Calmly, she reached up to her forehead and untied the hitai-ate, allowing her purple hair to fall unbidden around her face. Sasuke, even married, couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Nami tossed the Mist hitai-ate to the side, directly into the wall of purple energy, where it caught fire with a brilliant purple glow. Less than a second later, nothing was left of it.

Smirking again at him, she reached into a pocket, causing the Uchiha to tense. He relaxed slightly when all she brought out was another hitai-ate. She reached up and tied this one in the exact same place as her previous one. When she looked up, Sasuke tensed again. It was a Sound hitai-ate.

Nami gave him an amused look. "You knew we were Oto nin. I don't know why you're acting so surprised. And now I have you in here all to myself." She gave him a predatory look. "All I have to do is kill you."

Sasuke smirked back, his Sharingan eyes glowing at the challenge. "And you know I am one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha. I only wonder what could cause you to believe you have to ability to kill me and survive."

The Sound nin grinned devilishly, "Whoever said anything about surviving?" she waved the rest of his comments off. "And you'll see soon enough. In the meantime," she paused as another round of explosions went off throughout the Leaf Village. "Your friends outside might want to go help the citizens. Those aren't going to stop until everyone involved in this assault is dead or forced out of a 25 mile radi-"

She was cut off as a kick flew through the space that she had occupied mere moments before. She settled into a defensive stance as Sasuke landed, skidding slightly. He slowly turned back toward her. "We should get started then."

Nami smirked, pulling out a small boombox. "Let's." With that, she hit the play button and tossed the boombox to the side, and music filled the rooftop as the battle began in earnest.

A team of ANBU, plus Kakashi, landed near the site of one of the explosions. The Ninja Academy building. Luckily, it had been let out for the day due to the chaos of the chuunin exams. Kakashi stepped toward the ruined building and knelt to better examine a particularly dark scorch mark. "It looks like they used some powerful explosions here," he commented.

The ANBU leader, one with a cat mask, stepped up beside him. "Seems like a seal based one. How we managed to miss it, I don't know."

Kakashi hm-ed lightly. Then, he stood and turned to face the ANBU team. "Make a quick sweep of the area to make sure there were no civilians caught in the explosion. Then, we'll move on to the next blast zone."

"Hai!" chorused the ANBU. They vanished in flashes of speed. Kakashi stood there overseeing the action for a moment before moving to assist.

Just as he did so, he caught sight of another seal appearing on the ground in the ruined building, pulsing with active chakra. His eyes widened as he shouted to his team. "Move!" He leapt away as the explosion blew debris through the air at high speed. He covered his face with his hands as small pieces of stone bit into his skin, leaving small scratches everywhere.

He landed and glanced around, briefly taking stock of his team. They seemed to have taken a few cuts, just like him, but were otherwise unharmed. They were all silent for a moment, tensed, waiting for something else to happen. When nothing did, Kakashi took control once more. "Finish the sweep, and we'll move on. Everyone be careful. It looks like they have more bombs set up to go off at certain intervals. Be ready to cover yourselves at all times."

As his team moved to follow his commands, Kakashi surveyed the damage. The explosion didn't seem to have caused any more destruction, just spread what was already rubble. _"They're just keeping us busy and cautious,"_ he realized. He glanced at the rest of Konoha. He thought he had heard other detonations going off at the same time around the village.

His team landed behind him, done looking over the remains of the academy. Kakashi immediately took off for the next blast site, his team following close behind.

This was not going to be fun.

Uppun stared after his would-be opponent as she leapt over the edge of the arena after the proctor. He felt the ground beneath his feet rumble as explosions went off throughout the city. _"What the hell?"_ he thought with mild irritation. This was supposed to be his match, where he proved he was worthy of being a chuunin.

Despite his irritation, he couldn't help but take a small amount of satisfaction from the fact that Mist and Leaf were going to annihilate each other's forces. They would no doubt deal heavy blows to each other.

And the bastards would deserve it.

Maybe the unknown man that had killed his father would be among the casualties.

With that thought, he casually turned around and walked back toward the contestants balcony, ignoring the fact that everyone in the stadium was being evacuated. It's not like the stadium was being blown up. It might've actually been one of the safest places in the village. Uppun didn't really care. He wouldn't interfere. He was going to enjoy the chaos that was around him.

It's not like his country was involved.

Tsunade stood up as the first of the explosions went off, immediately sending out orders. "ANBU, go find the enemy and defend Konoha! Send backup teams to the explosions and control the damage! Genin and sensei, start evacuating the civilians! You know where to take-!" She cut herself off as she saw Naruto get sent flying with a black figure using a Shunshin moments behind him. Hinata was already moving to follow.

It was then that she felt a sticky substance wrap around her. She looked down to find a gray glue-like string tying her hands to her sides with a single solid strand leading away from her. She followed the strand with her eyes to find a man in heavy clothing, the elder Mist team's sensei she realized, leaping through the air just outside the kage box.

He moved to yank her out of the box into a secluded part of the stands, causing Tsunade to tense, only for them both to feel the cord between them get cut. The Hokage looked up to find an ANBU beside her with his wakizashi drawn, having cut the string. Not a second later, another ANBU member appeared on one side of the Mist sensei via Shunshin, while one of Kankuro's puppets floated up on the other side. The ANBU immediately started a set of hand seals.

Tsunade felt the glue-like substance around her get cut off of her. "Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She looked up just in time to see a fire jutsu rush through the same space the Mist sensei had occupied. Kankuro's puppet then blew out a gust of wind, further amplifying the flame while also keeping it away from the puppet. Unsurprisingly, the Mist sensei appeared in the kage box, already going through seals.

"You're coming with me, Hokage-sama."

As he finished speaking, the third ANBU on the team appeared behind him, wakizashi poised. In one swift movement, he jabbed the blade through the throat of the Mist sensei. His eyes widened beneath his thick hood as his hands spread wide in shock. With a quick jerk, the ANBU pulled his blade free and then pushed the dead body out of the box to land on the arena floor below.

Tsunade had almost flinched at the cold brutality in the ANBU but still felt some mild satisfaction with her troops. They would kill to defend their village, and they were good at it, trained to be. She ignored another set of explosions, knowing that her ninja were ready to deal with any sort of threat, this one included.

She noted that Hinata had vanished during the scuffle, no doubt to follow her husband, as the ANBU team landed around her. All three of them were tensed, facing the Mizukage. Tsunade glanced at Gaara to find him and Kankuro staring in the same direction coldly. Slowly, she turned toward the other woman, finding her guard tensed as well, ready to defend his kage.

"I trust you have an explanation for this?"

Naruto flipped as he landed on the edge of the arena, skidding with one hand and his feet on the ground to a stop. As his momentum finally halted, he turned to the side and coughed up a small glob of blood. Then, he turned his eyes on his assailant.

The teen was obviously nearing twenty and had on almost entirely black clothing with a fishnet undershirt. He had slightly feminine features, including straight black hair that went down to the middle of his back. He seemed like one of the least imposing figures he had ever faced off against.

Yet, he had managed to sneak up on multiple kage level ninja. He had been able to pull him, Uzumaki Naruto, to the side, away from his wife and kick him in the chest, effectively separating him from the rest of the group before anyone could react. He knew he couldn't underestimate this guy.

When he brought up his hands into a hand sign and a written seal flashed on the ground around the two of them, causing a purple wall to rise on all four sides, he knew he was right in his assumption. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you," stated the teen, Bangai Hason if he remembered correctly. "It's the Shishienjin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation)." He buffed his nails on his vest arrogantly. "My own adaptation of it. Took a while to come up with, but it was worth the effort."

Hinata landed on the arena edge, just outside the jutsu. "Don't touch the purple stuff, Hinata-chan," Naruto commanded. "That's the same technique that Orochimaru used to separate Old Man Hokage from help during our first chuunin exams."

Hinata hesitantly stepped forward and tossed a kunai at the wall. It erupted in purple flames on contact. She grimaced, mind already working on a way around it to assist her husband.

Naruto brought his eyes back to Hason to see him tying an Oto hitai-ate onto his forehead and tensed. This made the Oto nin smirk. "What? Didn't really think that we were from Mist, did you?"

The blond shook his head, for once serious. "No, but I didn't expect you to make it so obvious."

Hason waved his comment off. "It doesn't matter at this point. We already sowed enough damage between two countries to cause tension for a good while. And besides, it got us in, and that's all we needed."

"And what do you want now?"

A feral look came across Hason's face. "To kill you."

Naruto grinned wildly. "Oh? This sounds like fun!"

"We'll see whether you still think that after we get going."

The two rushed at each other, kunai drawn.

Sakura felt the first of the explosions rock the infirmary as she was treating the injury in Nebin's stomach. She cursed quietly when the unexpected motion almost made her injure the boy further. She quickly finished patching the Hyuuga up and moved toward the doorway to investigate what was going on.

"What is-" Her voice was cut off as a fist connected with her cheek, sending her flying down the hall. Before her momentum even stopped, she was kicked from below with enough force to send her through _two_ floors to land on the roof of the infirmary. She rolled out of the way as a blade clanged on the roof where she had been. Even as she stood, she was already healing the injuries to her face and chest.

At her full height, she found herself facing the patient that had caused her the most confusion, Hou Chiku. There had seemed to be nothing wrong with him, but he was still unconscious. She could now tell that there really was nothing wrong with him. He stood there, dark maroon hair waving slightly behind him in its ponytail.

The teen raised his hands into a seal, causing Sakura to tense. The action brought up the purple walls on every side of them, including above. Sakura scowled, body arched in a defensive stance. Chiku slowly raised his sword to point at her. "Consider yourself a dead woman."

((A/N: This essentially marks the end of the chuunin exams. Now that it's over, I'd like to ask you readers who you think deserves to be promoted among the genin. It'll help me determine who to make chuunin following the exams. Thanks again and please leave a review!))


	44. Genin Circumstances

**Genin Circumstances**

Taka poked her head into the hallway, staring at the purple barrier that had appeared all the way across. It was just see-through enough to be able to tell that there was another about 50 yards past the first. She scowled, ducking back inside.

"What's going on?" asked Hari from his bed. Taka had joined him in his room a couple minutes after he had woken up, having already visited Sokudo and been told that, with some rest to allow his chakra coils to recover, he would be fine.

She frowned. "Seems to be some sort of barrier between us and the exit. We appear to be stuck here."

"What!" Hari hopped out of bed, ignoring the fact that he hadn't been cleared by the doctor.

Taka followed him into the hall. By now, there were a couple of other people coming out of hospital rooms to find out what was going on. She found him wide-eyed, staring at the purple blockade. "Any ideas as to what we should do?"

The green haired genin shook his head, pealing his eyes away from the spectacle. "Not a clue. I was hoping you would have one." He paused for a moment to make sure she didn't. "Maybe we should find a medic or something and see what orders they give us."

"Wait." Hari stopped, turning back to look at her as she brought her hand up into a seal. "Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu." (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu) She paused for a moment as her mind went into overdrive. Then, she looked at Hari with deadly serious eyes. "We should check on the patients nearest the barrier and move them further away if possible."

"Hai. I agree." The pair turned on the new voice to find Taru.

"What are you doing here, Taru-san?" asked Hari in confusion.

The blond girl blushed lightly. "I was visiting Rokuden-kun."

Hari's eyes sparkled with mischief. "-kun, huh? Planning something, Taru-san?"

Taru's blush brightened as Taka cut in. "You can tease her later, Hari-_kun_," she said, emphasizing how she called him '–kun' relatively often these days. "We should get moving."

The trio started down the hallway at a brisk run. They slowed to a walk well short of the barrier, being extra cautious around it and the two girls moved to enter the two rooms on opposite sides of the hall. Just as they opened the doors, they were halted by Hari's voice. "Hitayio-san?"

The two turned toward the boy to find him looking at the barrier. They followed his gaze and were shocked to see Hitayio standing _inside_ the barrier. Hitayio made a shushing motion with his finger. "Quiet, you idiot. Sakura-san and Chiku-teme are fighting on the roof above me, and I don't want them to notice me."

Hari nodded dumbly, simply staring at the other genin. Taru rolled her eyes as she took over the conversation. "How'd you get in there, Hitayio-san?" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

The boy inched over toward his teammate. When he was close enough, he whispered back. "I was following Chiku-teme to find out what he planned to do after leaving his hospital room. I just got here as this force field appeared."

"What are you going to do while you're in there?" asked Taka with slight concern.

The boy shrugged. "I've not clue. I guess I'll hang out here and wait, see what I can do to help Sakura-san." Taru was the only one that caught the dangerous glint in his eyes but chose not to comment.

Instead, she said simply, "Well, be careful."

Taka nodded. "We'll be nearby, so holler if the barrier comes down."

"Hai." His gaze was already focused upward once more, watching the battle above him.

The three quickly proceeded into the nearby rooms, Taka and Hari into the one on the right, Taru the one on the left. The redhead and her teammate were surprised to find Hotaru laying on the hospital bed, unconscious despite the fact that she hardly seemed injury. They both stood there staring for half a second until Taka moved forward.

"Come on. We'd better move her." With a nod, Hari stepped forward. The two began looking for a stretcher to use to move her down the hall.

Katame prepared to jump over the railing and go to assist the civilians in the evacuation when she heard a dark chuckle from behind her. As one, the three remaining exam participants turned toward the stairs of the contestants' box. They found a single man, of around 40 years of age and slim in stature, standing there, cackling. His long dark hair hung down to mid-back. Slowly, he opened his eyes from his mirth.

White eyes that could only belong to a Hyuuga.

"Koulien? What are you doing here?" asked Hinashin, clearly recognizing the man.

Koulien just ignored the question. "This invasion couldn't have come at a better time. It's left the three of you up here all by your lonesome."

Katame and Souran tensed, each unconsciously stepping closer to Hinashin, who stood between them.

Hinashin, however, was oblivious to this. Her face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean, Koulien? This is the worst possible time! It's interrupting our exams." She paused to pout for a moment. "But we need to go help the village now. So, let's move out!"

The other three just watched her move toward the railing silently. When she noticed that no one was following her, she stopped and turned around. "Aren't you all coming?"

"Those two," Koulien said, motioning toward the other two genin, "aren't going anywhere. You, however, are coming with me."

Hinashin seemed confused but shrugged. "You're the jounin here. If that's what you think we should do, then let's do it."

Katame stepped between them, pulling out a kunai. "I believe he means to kidnap you, Hinashin-san." Souran moved up beside her, nodding his head, his arm already around his wrapped puppet.

The Uzumaki's eyes widened as Koulien grinned viciously. "I almost thought I'd get away with this without a fight for a moment there." He paused to look at the three genin predatorily. "But that's okay. This way, I get to enjoy the capture."

Hinashin stared on in disbelief. "But-but-why would you do that? We're family!"

Koulien shook his head. "Not as close as you seem to think, little girl." He gave Hinashin an angry look. "What your parents are doing for the Branch family is great for us, but it is destabilizing the entire structure of the clan. The Council of Elders has realized this and must seize control of the clan in order to retain order. The quickest way to achieve this is to take you and force Hinata-sama to hand over control to the Council. They entrusted me with this task, and I will not fail them." As he finished, he had a self-satisfied look on his face.

Hinashin growled dangerously. "What my mother is doing is good for the whole clan. You are an idiot to fall for the smooth words of a Council of Bumbling Buffoons." For some reason, Katame got the feeling the girl had heard someone else use that phrase, perhaps her father. "You are being used!"

Koulien glared at the girl. "You don't know what you're talking about. You only ever see what Hinata-sama and that _demon_ want you to."

This brought a violent hiss from Hinashin. She walked up next to her fellow genin, glancing at them. She received two nods in reply. As one, the three dropped into fighting stances.

Koulien chuckled arrogantly. "Do you really think you three genin can take on me, a jounin?"

Hinashin just glared. "We'll just see, won't we?"

Sakura blocked the blade of her opponent's sword with a kunai, unsurprised when the two weapons connected a couple inches from where they should have. Sasuke had told her of the sword style and how the boy from Mist used it. The technique isolated sound waves around the sword, so tightly packed that it was actually solid. It increased the length and width of the blade invisibly. It was a dangerous ability.

But it could be neutralized with some careful estimations.

Sakura had the brain to do this.

This didn't make sense…

She pushed Chiku away, putting some distance between them. They both paused, sizing each other up. "I know you've got allies helping you here. You couldn't have pulled all this off by yourself. So, why are _you_ here fighting _me_?"

Chiku put on an arrogant smirk. "Clearly, you've judged me as unworthy of such a skilled fighter as yourself. No matter." He rushed forward, sword flashing at her. Sakura parried the blow and struck back. He spoke as he dodged, "Allow me to explain while we continue."

"I came with the three companions that are on my team."He stabbed at her, causing her to side-step. "Hason ditched at the end of the second exam in order to set up explosive seals using a special ink that would remain invisible until activated." She struck back with a chakra-powered fist, something he knew he couldn't let hit him. "He then set them up so that they would have a domino effect, one would activate another in a cycle that would last a good half hour, more than enough time for us to finish up what we are really here to accomplish." He ducked under the blow and hopped back, giving some distance between them again. "The distraction would pull the majority of your ninja away and disorient them, giving us the time to trap you and our other targets in these barriers."

The two began to circle each other. "So, you're here to kill specific people. Who?" Sakura asked.

Chiku gave her a look as if she were stupid. "Why the second generation of sannin of course. If we eliminate the next generation of leaders now, it will make it that much easier to destroy Konoha when Otokage-sama sees fit." He rushed forward with a slash. "And what good would that do if we didn't also kill the current kage of your village?"

She deflected the blow over her head, noting how the sword was already incredibly long, continuing to grow, and wasn't impeding him at all like a normal sword of that size would. "So then, Tsunade-sama, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto are all under attack." She swung her other fist at the Sound nin's head. He rolled sideways and brought his blade around in a low arc. Sakura backflipped out of the way. "You're all idiots if you think you'll be able to kill any of us."

Chiku slowly stood up. "I must admit, all four of you are extremely strong, the strongest of your generation. But we are strong in our own right. Each of us has a strength that will counteract your own."

Sakura looked at him curiously. "And how does your style counter mine? You seem to rely heavily on taijutsu, which is one of my stronger points and I can simply heal any wounds you inflict."

Chiku smirked almost victoriously. Suddenly, he darted forward with more speed than he had yet shown, surprising the pink haired jounin. She jerked her shoulder back, allowing the blade to pass by her. Still, she felt the tip of the lengthened sword dig into her flesh, so she spun away, putting distance between them, hand already rising to heal the injury.

Chiku paused to allow her the time to heal. When she finished, he gave her an absolutely savage grin. "We all have some surprises for you. I promise you, none of you will live through today."

Tounyo guided the civilians out of the arena, trying to seem calm despite his apprehensive state. He was sure to be constantly ready to act and defend the lives of those around him, as was his job. Unfortunately, this made it difficult to keep those same people from panicking.

This was why he was glad to have the sensei there.

"Get moving, people, just do so calmly," rang Kiba's voice as he directed the non-ninja populace. Shino did similarly at another exit, albeit silently. Lee and Tenten were ushering the back of the line, making sure to watch their backs and guard against enemy attack. A couple other jounin had taken teams of chuunin to guard the walls and other key places, such as the Hokage Tower and the Ninja Academy. The genin that were in the stands stood to the side and kept the citizens from wandering off.

Still, the situation was tense with explosions rocking the village and villagers screaming in fright.

"Do you think that if we went and saved the Hokage, we would get promoted?"

Tounyo almost rolled his eyes. Trust Kizui to lighten the mood, no matter how serious it was. Tounyo glanced at his teammate to find him staring at the kage box wistfully. The blonde glanced at it and was surprised to catch sight of an enemy ninja get taken down inside. They must be good to get that close to the Hokage.

But the ANBU black ops were good too.

Tounyo glanced back at Kizui, continuing to lead the citizens out of the arena while he talked. "I somehow doubt you'd be able to do the ANBU's job better than they can, Kizui-kun."

He caught Kizui's frown out of the corner of his eye. "How can you say that when we've been friends for so long?" he asked in mock hurt.

Tounyo just rolled his eyes. "You know my point-blank honesty is what keeps you grounded. Without me, you'd be doing all kinds of crazy things."

"Like what?"

"Like rushing off to save the Hokage when she clearly doesn't need it. Or challenging a bowl-cut, green spandex wearing jounin level ninja, who focuses on physical training and taijutsu, to an arm wrestling contest," Tounyo finished heatedly.

"You challenged Lee-sensei to a contest?" Shan inquired as she landed next to them. "Section F cleared of all civilians!" she called down to her teacher, who responded with a nod.

"Of course I did! How could I resist after hearing of his exploits?"

"No, you didn't, Kizui," interjected Tounyo exasperatedly. "I talked you out of it before you could be embarrassed."

The white haired boy pouted childishly. "Aw. You ruin all my fun, Tounyo-chan."

"Are you referring to that he stopped you from challenging Lee-sensei or to that he ruined your lie?" asked Koukatsu as he appeared next to the group. "Section D cleared!"

"Yes," Kizui stated simply.

Tounyo rolled his eyes. "That means both."

"Is now really the best time to be discussing this?" inquired Hato as he joined them. "Section A cleared!"

"It's the perfect time!" declared Kizui authoritatively.

Tounyo sighed in irritation. "What Kizui means is that my annoyance with him is keeping me from being too tense. Were the civilians to pick up on it, as they no doubt would, it might cause them to panic."

"And you have to deal with him all the time?" Rei inquired, also joining them. Tounyo just gave her a withering glare. She patted his arm. "I feel for you."

"Good, good." Tenten walked up, clapping sarcastically. "Well, you can continue this conversation with your new orders." She paused to make sure she had the attention of all five genin. "Guide the civilians through the tunnels under the city to the evacuation facility. You'll have a few jounin with you, but the rest of us are going to be searching for enemies to eradicate. Clear?"

"Hai!" chorused the genin.

She watched them follow after the citizens at a brisk run for a moment before disappearing in a Shunshin. She needed to find Shikamaru. He would know what was going on.

Ryoushi awoke to the sound of explosions going off outside his jail cell. He heard muffled cries of panic and shouted orders followed by a more distant blast. Just outside his cell, he heard his guards moving up and down the hallway at breakneck speed.

He opened his eyes and struggled to his feet. His arms hung limp beside him, weighed down by the chakra-draining shackles. He looked around drowsily, trying to arouse his long-unused body. He knew that was the signal. This would be the time where he was freed. He would have to be ready to move and quickly.

An explosion blew apart the wall behind him, sending him flying forward onto his front a good ten feet away. He landed with a grunt, scraping his hands and cheek against the stone floor. He quickly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring how the stone in his shackles continued to suck out his chakra. He stumbled over to the now destroyed wall and looked out.

He was about two floors below ground, a half destroyed building above him. He wasn't sure, but he thought it looked like the Hokage Tower. He hopped up to the street above him and stopped, getting a feel for his location. He glanced sideways and saw another hole in the ground. A couple seconds later, Ibiru jumped up to join him on the street, clothes torn and shredded and clearly exhausted. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

She had never been more beautiful.

The hunter was startled out of his reverie by a voice coming from the hole he had just vacated. "The explosion came from in here! The prisoner's missing! Open the door! Quickly!"

Ryoushi turned toward his partner. "We should get out of here." His voice cracked as he spoke, but he didn't care. He was just grateful for the chance to use it again.

Ibiru only nodded weakly, reaching out to take his hand. He smiled softly before moving to leap away.

For once, he would be the prey.


	45. Clash of the Big Guns

((I apologize for this being late, but it was a combination of email fail, my Beta not getting it back quite early enough, and my family coming over that made me post it today rather than yesterday. Hope the slightly longer length makes up for it.

It should also be noted that I believe the Sharingan (and Sasuke) are a bit (a lot) OP in the manga. For this reason, though I'm going against Kishimoto with this, I will be debuffing the Sharingan to an extent. I apologize if this angers anyone, but I don't really like Sasuke that much anyway. I won't bash him, but I will make him more of a balanced ninja, compared to everyone else.

Hope you enjoy!))

**Clash of the Big Guns**

Sasuke watched Nami's movement as she began to sway in time with the music, his Sharingan active. As she started to move forward, his eyes widened. They caught and memorized the movement of her lips as she smirked, yet the rest of her movements were unseen by the analytical portion of his kekkei-genkai. He couldn't anticipate her moves like he could a normal ninja. There was only one explanation for this.

The Sharingan could see the thoughts of a person to the extent that it would show any conscious movement before it had actually happened. Actions that were trained responses, like dodging, it could not predict in the same way. That was why the Sharingan couldn't make it so that its wielder would have a hundred percent accuracy with their attacks.

Nami was taking advantage of that fact. She had, apparently, trained her body so that it would react to the music without any thought on her part. It was an amazing counter to his Sharingan.

But Sasuke was still a powerful ninja, even without his kekkei-genkai.

He shifted into an offensive stance and rushed forward. If she had to dodge, she wouldn't be able to simply continue her dance and would have to think about getting back into rhythm. If he could prevent her from doing that, he would be able to use his Sharingan to its full potential and destroy her like the nobody she was.

As he expected, she leaned back to avoid his kunai swing. However, it seemed almost like the move was designed into the dance because she just kept on moving, bringing her fist around in a backhand as she stood up. Scowling, he reached up to catch the blow with his off hand. The force of the attack caused him to grunt in effort, but it stopped Nami's movement for a short moment.

Sasuke took advantage of the pause to stab out with his kunai. The Sound nin tumbled out of the way and quickly resumed her dancing, even as Sasuke assaulted her once more. He lay on a flurry of attacks and was only mildly surprised when she managed to dodge all of them, even while maintaining her dance.

So, she was able to evade and strike back while in the midst of her rhythm, but if she was halted, it would interrupt her. Interesting.

"_Let's see how she handles a jutsu then,"_ he thought, jumping back, already starting on the short set of seals that he would need. As soon as she saw him doing seals, she started doing the same. His Sharingan analyzed the seals and recognized them as a basic Fuuton jutsu. "Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

He blew out a ball of flame. She countered by releasing her jutsu. "Fuuton: Kazehitofuki no jutsu." (Wind Release: Gust of Wind Technique). Sasuke was surprised by how powerful the jutsu was, as before he had only even seen it used to deflect projectiles. This gust was strong enough to not only catch and amplify his fireball, but push the wave of flame back in his direction. He was forced to jump out of the way.

The two paused to briefly regain their breath. They made eye contact as Nami slowly started to dance forward, clearly intending to go on the offensive.

Sasuke's Sharingan had done him next to no good so far in the fight. It couldn't predict her movements and she had yet to use any real jutsu. There was still one more thing that it could do in its current form that he hadn't tried yet.

"_Time to see how a genjutsu will work on her."_

Naruto spun out of the way of a punch and lashed out with a left-handed jab. Hason deflected the blow and countered with a roundhouse kick. Naruto blocked the blow with little more than a soft "Oof" and proceeded to grasp his leg. With one vicious heave, he lofted his opponent off the ground and threw him toward the purple barrier around them.

Hason twisted in the air, drawing a kunai, and dug it into the stone material of the arena wall. It jerked him to a halt, almost wrenching the weapon free of his grasp. Naruto gave him half a second to stretch out his arm before rushing him again.

Just before Naruto reached him, Hason brought his hands up into a seal. Then, suddenly, Hason was gone. Naruto stopped. It didn't take him long to notice that the world around him was swirling, as if he were looking through a kaleidoscope in every direction. The blond scowled.

Genjutsu.

He _hated_ genjutsu.

But he wasn't useless against them.

He brought his hands up and spiked his chakra. The jutsu fluctuated for a second, only to return stronger. Naruto growled irritably and tried again. He almost cursed when it just came back once more.

Suddenly, a figure appeared next to him. He had planned on ignoring it, knowing it was a simple illusion, but when it spoke, he couldn't help but turn to look. "What is it you really want, Naruto-kun?"

He stared at her with wide eyes. "Sakura-chan?"

Another figure appeared, arms wrapped around his shoulders. He tensed, ready to throw the person off, until she also spoke. "He clearly wants me. He made his choice thirteen years ago. You shouldn't continue pining after him like this."

Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "Hinata-chan?"

When Sakura hesitated, he looked back up to find her biting her lip. "We could-" Her uncertainty shone through as she paused again. "We could…share him."

That brought his mind back to reality. Sakura would never say that. She was with Sasuke and quite happy. And he was the happiest he had ever been with Hinata. "This is just an illusion." His statement was made all the more obvious by the continued fluctuation of color all around him. "This isn't real at all." He spiked his chakra again in one final attempt to clear the genjutsu, not even bothering with seals this time.

The jutsu flashed as if almost dispelled but then pushed back with even more force, the two figures of Sakura and Hinata appearing in even more accurate detail than before. As the kaleidoscope of color once again reset around him, Naruto felt Hinata stir behind him.

"No," she said, and Naruto couldn't help but note Sakura's look of disappointment. "His heart is mine." He felt her move again and, a moment later, white hot pain shot through him. He looked down and his eyes widened as he found a kunai in his chest, directly above his heart, with Hinata's hand attached to it.

He moved to speak but only managed to cough up blood.

Damn it.

His heart was pierced.

Again.

Hinata watched on from outside the barrier as Naruto was placed under a genjutsu. His body moved as if he couldn't tell where he was or what he was even standing on. At least he seemed to know he was under a genjutsu, as he brought his hands up in a seal to spike his chakra.

Yet, for some reason, that didn't clear away the jutsu. Instead, Naruto just looked even more enraptured by the imaginary scene before him. Hinata glanced at Hason and found a smirk on his face, completely ignoring the Hyuuga matriarch. The Oto nin slowly approached Naruto, who was speaking to someone in confusion.

Hinata looked around the barrier, her Byakugan already active, in another effort to find a way in. It only gave her the same result as last time; there was no way in or out. No way for her to help her husband. It was a powerful barrier, blocking everything, including chakra. It even went dozens of feet downward, through the arena wall and the earth and then squared off into a cube, just as it did in the air above them.

No matter how she looked at it, she was useless right now.

She redirected her Byakugan at the fight and saw Hason now just a step in front of Naruto, kunai in hand. She could see her husband's chakra spike one last time, only for it to return to him, focusing on his forehead, as if it were feeding the genjutsu he was under.

Her eyes widened. Of course, that's exactly what it was doing. It was brilliant to use something like that against Naruto. He had so much chakra that it would be able to feed off him without taking enough to be noticeable and when he tried to dispel it, it would just make the technique stronger. And he wouldn't even be able to subdue his chakra, so he wouldn't be able to dispel it like that. That only left pain as the way to remove it, and Naruto would actually have to _think_ of that to use it.

He would be practically helpless.

Her mouth fell open as Hason pulled back the kunai and stabbed it directly into Naruto's chest. She had but one reaction to that.

"NARUTO!"

Sakura backtracked as Chiku pressed after her with his surprising speed. She had to admit, he was a tad faster than she was. But she was still quick enough to keep up fairly well, quick enough to prevent any injuries past small cuts. Although that was getting harder as his sword kept getting longer.

But she was confident she could still defeat him.

As such, she let her curiosity get the better of her.

"So," she started as she deflected the blade over her head, "If your speed is supposed to be how you defeat me, how are your companions supposed to defeat Sasuke, Naruto, and Tsunade-sama?" She proceeded to give a swing of her empowered fist at his face. Couldn't let him get too relaxed now.

Chiku actually chuckled as he dodged the blow and retaliated with a diagonal upward slash. "You're lucky I want to know how you react to this information." He paused as she parried the attack and stabbed with the same kunai. He rotated out of the way and continued. "For your dear Hokage, we had Zakyou, who specializes in constricting and holding a person in place." He brought his blade around in a full body arc. Sakura blocked the blow, letting out a soft grunt. They held that position as he continued explaining. "All he has to do was capture your revered Hokage once, and she would have been stuck in place. Simple strength wouldn't be enough to break out. His glue isn't a substance that can be broken. Her legendary strength wouldn't have mattered as she has no way of getting out."

They pushed off each other, hopping back to a safe distance. Chiku smirked across at her. "Now, I can tell just from your defiant stare that you don't believe me. Just like you still don't believe that I can defeat you." He paused as her eyes widened, his smirk growing. "What? Thought I couldn't tell you're still toying with me?"

Sakura just shook her head, preparing to go on the offensive as Chiku spoke again. "For your husband, the famous last Uchiha, we have Nami." He was interrupted by the pink haired kunoichi darting forward and thrusting with her kunai. He sidestepped and almost didn't notice the spinning punch headed his way. He ducked under it and stepped back to give himself enough room to swing his blade. "Nami has trained her body to move along with the music she carries with her. So much so that it doesn't require conscious thought on her part. It'll make the Sharingan useless." Sakura blocked the attack and moved forward so that she was within his arc, launching a quick punch. Chiku winced, bringing up the hilt of his sword to block what he knew would be a painful blow.

It connected and sent him flying. Knowing he didn't have much time before he hit the barrier and was lit on fire, he spun in the air and jabbed his sword into the ground. It dug through the roof and created a large hole gap leading down to the floors below as he gradually slowed to a stop.

He rose to his feet, muscles sore from the strain just put on them. He examined his sword briefly, finding a small crack in its hardened metal grip. "I must say, your strength is as amazing as they say."

Sakura only stared at him. "You must know that Sasuke-kun has skills besides the Sharingan."

"Of course. That's not the only reason Nami is the one fighting Uchiha. Ninjutsu-wise, her specialty is wind, which will let her direct any fire jutsu he uses right back at him. And, aside from that, she can block off her own mind and essentially let her body fight on its own, making most genjutsu pointless."

Sakura just shook her head. "I still have a hard time seeing Sasuke-kun losing."

Chiku only shrugged nonchalantly. "Doesn't really matter what you think. They'll die either way." He paused as he felt a gentle wave of chakra wash over him. A genjutsu. "It should also be noted," he stated as he suppressed all of his excess chakra, making the jutsu useless on him, "that I am extremely good at noticing and dispelling illusions. That's the other reason why I'm the one fighting you."

Sakura scowled, relenting on her attempts to catch him off guard. Maybe this would be more difficult than she thought.

Hinashin gave a nod to Souran. They had worked together before and knew how to fight in tandem. The Uzumaki glanced at Katame, who had taken a defensive stance beside her. The blue haired girl took a quick look at her, with a quick nod, before turning back to face Koulien. She seemed willing to fight on her side, despite hardly knowing her. Only problem was, Hinashin wasn't sure how well she would fit in with the purely offensive style that she and Souran tended to use.

Her attention was brought back to Koulien when he spoke. "Let's begin then, children." She leapt to the side as Katame did the same to the other side. In contrast, Souran stayed put, pulling out his puppet in an instant. He had his puppet move to intercept, attacking with one of its eight bladed legs, laced with poison.

Koulien dodged out of the way of the first one and, when a second quickly followed, deflected the blade by touching the base of the arm, where the sword wouldn't cut him. He then, brought a leg up and viciously kicked the puppet to the side, where it crumpled in a heap. Not wasting a moment, Koulien shifted forward into a more stable Jyuuken stance so that he was within arm's length of Souran. He lashed out with a deadly combo of chakra-charged strikes.

Seeing this, Hinashin moved to attack him from behind and hopefully distract him from his assault. By the time she got there though, he had already landed two hits, more than enough to disable a person. Koulien was simply too fast for a genin to keep up with. Souran was on his knees from the blows, struggling to stand. It was lucky the injuries were only to his left arm and leg. He used his right leg to push himself out of the way as Hinashin engaged their opponent.

The Uzumaki struck out with two quick Jyuuken jabs, forcing Koulien to spin on her and deflect the blows. As he moved to counter, he noticed with his Byakugan that Souran's puppet was coming in to attack him again. He dodged the blade slash, only to be forced to block a Jyuuken strike. He scowled as he was put on the defensive. The puppet was using all eight of its limbs to their maximum, something he couldn't do if he was up there fighting alongside it.

This deadly combination made it so that Koulien couldn't let anything touch him or be either crippled or poisoned. The attacks were only buffered by kunai being thrown in whenever there was an opening. The group of three coordinated very well considering only two of them had fought before, and even then only once. It was quickly frustrating Koulien.

As a kunai grazed his shoulder, leaving a small cut, the Hyuuga branch member growled. With Hinashin's next Jyuuken strike, he jabbed back, meeting the hand mid-strike, the two chakras neutralizing each other before either could do any damage. Before the genin could even react, he twisted her around so that she was between him and the puppet, who barely halted its next attack in time to stop itself from poisoning its companion. Koulien proceeded to throw HInashin onto the puppet, who had no hands with which to catch her, so had to simply let her land on top of it.

Before he had even taken a step, Koulien could feel chakra building in a corner of the room for a jutsu. He felt the heat of a fireball headed toward him just as he moved toward Souran. He avoided the Great Fireball Jutsu and darted at the Sand nin, whose eyes widened. Souran tried to fend him off, but was already too injured to do much without his puppet. Two more quick Jyuuken strikes and all four of the Suna genin's limbs were immobilized. The boy was just lucky Koulien had been ordered not to kill anyone.

His Byakugan showed him that Hinashin was just getting free of the puppet, while her other companion was moving toward him, chakra once more gathering for a jutsu. He spun as she approached him, ready to stop her, but she stopped just out of his reach, completing her jutsu. "Doton: Joro Senbon!" (Earth Release: Sprinkling Needles)

The stone of the floor beneath him and ceiling above him shot out in the form of many tiny darts, seeking to make him into a pincushion. He immediately went into a Kaiten (Rotation), pushing chakra out to repel the needles. When the assault stopped a few seconds later, he spun to a halt, quickly moving toward Katame. The girl was breathing deeply, clearly exhausted, as he lashed out with another Jyuuken. Unable to keep up, Katame was struck in the abdomen, causing her to double over. Koulien then kicked her aside to get her out of the way, causing her to grunt in pain.

Slowly, the jounin turned to the only remaining genin. Hinashin stood next to the unmoving puppet, glaring daggers at him. Koulien smirked at her. "Do you understand now? You don't stand a chance. Why don't you just come quietly?"

Without a word, she raised her hands into a cross shaped seal. Four clones appeared to accompany the original. The elder Hyuuga just sighed. "Have it your way."

They rushed each other at the same time. Koulien twisted into the middle of the group of clones, dodging the first two strikes at the same time. He ducked a sweeping kick from another clone and backhanded the next in the stomach, dispelling it. He spun, deflecting two blows at once, while simultaneously kicking out to dispel a second clone.

Hinashin took advantage of him having only one foot on the ground by aiming a jab at his knee, effectively forcing him to leap into the air. The other two Hinashin's met him mid-air, lashing out with a flurry of Jyuuken strikes. Koulien turned so that he had one arm facing each clone and proceeded to block every attack. In her frustration, the one grounded Hinashin leapt at him, both arms ready for chakra empowered hits as her other two clones fell slightly back.

Unfortunately, Koulien managed to grab both her arms. Then, he pulled her underneath him as they both landed, forcing her to take the brunt of the blow. She disappeared in another cloud of smoke as the elder Hyuuga stood up. One clone and the original were all that was left.

The two blond figures charged at him from opposite sides. He deflected one of the initial attacks while catching the other. He spun quickly and threw one Hinashin into the other, knocking them both back. The clone dispelled, leaving Hinashin alone to land on her back. Koulien was upon her before she could even start to get up. He struck out at all four of her limbs. She blocked the first two, but when he managed to disable one of her arms, it became a useless endeavor and she was quickly immobilized.

Koulien stood over her, a smirk on his face. "Now, there's a good little girl. I can take you home and show that demon of a father of yours where his place really is." The girl only glared up at him icily.

Just as he was leaning down to pick her up, he caught movement off to the side with his Byakugan. He jumped back as a hand went through the space he had previously occupied. He landed and glowered at the intruder, only for his eyes to widen as he recognized who it was.

Hyuuga Hanabi stared back at him frostily. "You'll not be taking her anywhere."


	46. The Clash Continues

**The Clash Continues**

The Hokage stared down the Mizukage, who still hadn't looked up at her. Gaara walked up beside her, giving a similarly cold gaze. The ANBU and Kankuro stood around them, tensed and ready to defend their kage. The Mizukage's bodyguard was similarly on guard. One wrong move on anybody's part would start a battle in which one side heavily outnumbered the other.

"Well?" asked Tsunade. "Do you have an explanation or should we declare war on Kirigakure?"

Mei Terumi waited for a moment, making sure that none of the other ninja would attack her before slowly looking up. "We had nothing to do with this," she stated with dead seriousness, despite the smile on her face.

Tsunade looked into her eyes, searching for any sign that she was lying. "Well then, how do you explain all of this?" she inquired, motioning to the rest of Konoha.

Mei looked around, still smiling. "This is a pickle, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, I can honestly say that we didn't know about this. However, I will declare that the three older genin we entered into this exam are now considered traitors and will be killed on sight."

"That doesn't prove anything to us."

If anything, Mei's smile widened. "Come on, Tsunade-sama, Gaara-sama. You both know I would never do something like this." When both merely continued to stare at her coldly, her smile shrunk a small amount. "Fine. How bout I show you how honest I'm being by having what few ninja I brought with me help you out with this mess." She turned her head slightly so that she was looking behind her. "Men!" Three black garbed, masked shinobi appeared flanking her. They looked a lot like the three ANBU around Tsunade. "Assist the Leaf nin any way you can. If one of you happen to see them, tell our genin to do the same."

As the three ninja disappeared, Mei looked back at the other two kages with a wide grin. "Happy now?"

The blond kage nodded slightly. She motioned the ANBU to stand down. They reluctantly followed her orders, though two of them still had weapons in their hands. They were both surprised when Gaara turned his back on the both of them and walked toward the rail toward the arena. Kankuro, who still hadn't completely put away his puppet, was the first to recover.

"Gaara, where are you going?"

The young Kazekage looked over his shoulder at the assembled group. "If there is no battle here, there is a village to save. We can solve any remaining problems when it is over."

"Er-right. Good point, Gaara-sama," said Mei, hesitating only a moment. She turned toward Tsunade with a slight smile. "Shall we go save the village? We can do a lot out there."

Tsunade only nodded. "Let's." With that, every shinobi in the VIP box disappeared in a Shunshin.

Shino led two special jounin and another jounin toward some explosions near the arena. He landed near the charred remains of one of the buildings and immediately sent out his kikai bugs. The two special jounin spread out as well, looking for any civilians that needed to be escorted to safety. It was a simple job, but one that needed to be done and, until enemy shinobi started showing up, the jounin, special jounin, and chuunin could accomplish the task the quickest.

Shino tensed when his bugs picked up a scent that should not have been there. A scent that could only be released by kikai he had planted on those important to him.

A scent that said one of them was in trouble.

"What's wrong, Shino-san?" asked Moegi as she landed next to him, having cleared the area. Udon landed next to her, a concerned look on both their faces.

"Katame's in trouble," he stated blankly.

Udon raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"The kikai I put on her has died."

"Well, what are you waiting her e for? Go! Go! We'll take care of this." Moegi waved him away in a shooing motion.

Shino only nodded, disappearing in a Shunshin.

The two special jounin looked at each other, concern in Moegi's eyes, then at the other jounin. "Shino's a jounin," Konohamaru said matter-of-factly, "they'll be fine. We have our orders."

Shikamaru sat with two hands in front of him, pointer and middle fingers together in a small circle in his thinking position. Gradually, he rose out of it, looking around at the jounin around him. He wasn't sure why they always came to him when the Hokage was busy, but he seemed to be the impromptu strategist. It was rather troublesome.

"The explosions are just a distraction," he stated to the group. "For what, we can't be sure yet. We've received word that there is no attack on the gates, so we don't have to worry about that. Tenten, Chouji, Neji, I want you all to use Neji's Byakugan to see if you can find the seals that are exploding and disable them, or at least contain the blasts. They've been placed under a genjutsu and written in nearly invisible ink, so even you, Neji, will have to pay attention to find them. Here is what they look like." He held up a circular seal with streams of symbols flowing from the edge toward the center, copied by an ANBU member with a specialized jutsu. It was the first one they had found and it was only found because it had activated and failed to go off due to the chakra-draining stone of the wall it had been planted on.

"Hai," chorused the three before disappearing in flashes of speed.

"Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto," he started pointing in the direction where each one was as he spoke, "have been trapped in separate barriers alone in one on one fights. Naruto already has Hinata trying to figure out how to get to him. Lee, Ino, I want you two to go to Sasuke and Sakura respectively and do the same with them. Assist them if you can."

"Hai."

"What do you want me to do?" inquired Kiba, Akamaru by his side. He had already informed Shikamaru of how the two special jounin, Udon and Moegi, had come by seeking Konohamaru, their former teammate, and Shino had decided to guide them. Shikamaru looked at Kiba with a raised eyebrow.

He held out the copied seal that was still in his hand for Kiba. "Take a sniff. We'll be searching for these in front of the civilians. You'll find them, I'll disable them. We have to make sure they won't get killed on their way to safety."

Kiba only nodded, him and Akamaru taking a quick whiff of the ink. In another flash of speed, they disappeared.

Naruto awoke to the sound of water dripping nearby. He almost cursed. Without even opening his eyes, he knew where he was.

Inside his mind in the sewer system that held-

A low growl resonated from near where Naruto lay.

The Kyuubi.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of the cage that held the beast, with the kanji for "seal" written in the middle. The Kyuubi, itself, had shrunk to around two-thirds its original size, an indicator of how quickly the two were merging due to the Yondaime's seal. It was a slow change, but Naruto could feel it in his personality and his ever-expanding chakra.

The two of them were slowly becoming one, and Naruto was afraid of what that one would end up being.

He was brought out of his thoughts by another growl. **"Stupid brat! How can you be so careless with our body!"** demanded the Kyuubi furiously. Naruto almost had to cover his ears from the volume of the shout.

"Oh, shut up, you stupid fox!" Naruto yelled in response.

The Kyuubi practically roared. **"I will **_**not**_** shut up! You nearly killed us! Again! If you continue such foolishness, I won't be able to save us!"**

Naruto glared at the beast. "Just give me your monthly rent, you bastard."

The Kyuubi hissed in rage. **"Just let me take over, and we can destroy your enemies in an instant!"**

Naruto scowled, images of the last time the beast had taken him over in his rage flashing through his mind. "No," he stated in a deathly calm tone. "I will never let that happen again."

The Kyuubi only sneered at him. **"Fine. But you'll need my full power again, and I'll not be so agreeable when I regain control."**

With his threat made, the Kyuubi allowed his blood red chakra to rush from behind the bars and flood Naruto's body, filling him with an almost painful heat. Power flowed through the blond as he felt his body repairing itself as he returned to the physical realm.

Sasuke waited half a second, letting her slowly dance toward him. He could tell she intended to go on the offensive shortly. He countered by watching her face until they made eye contact and then, immediately activated one of his Sharingan based genjutsu. It would make her sense everything as though she were shrinking. It was disorienting and intimidating, but easily detected. But that didn't matter. Against a primarily taijutsu fighter, it would provide the moment's distraction that he would need.

However, instead of falling under the genjutsu, her eyes glazed over in a way he hadn't ever seen, before she closed them, losing herself to the world. She hadn't even lost a step. Sasuke glared at her in irritation. His taijutsu was impaired without the use of his Sharingan, he was limited on what ninjutsu he could use due to the small size of the barrier, and his genjutsu didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever. This was becoming extremely annoying.

He was surprised when the first song ended and a second began, this one with a pace that was much quicker than the last one. Nami's movements hastened to match the pace. She was within melee range in just a couple of moments.

Sasuke was forced on the defensive as she swung out in wide arcs that allowed her to keep on moving with two kunai that she had drawn on her approach. He was pushed just to dodge the first two and moved to catch the third and stop her once more, thus making her disengage from whatever trance she was in.

However, when the blow was stopped in its tracks, Nami just started moving in the other direction, losing barely an instant of momentum. Sasuke ducked under another of her sweeps and countered with a jab aimed at her chest. The Oto nin limbo-ed the attack without breaking stride, swinging her arm around to hook around his. Continuing to spin, she pulled his arm down underneath her, forcing him toward the ground as well, while lashing out with her other arm. Sasuke barely brought his other arm over his head to block the blow to his back.

Without missing a beat, Nami twisted around, bringing one leg off the ground to catch him in the chest and push him to the ground on his back. He let out a soft "Oof", even as he brought his free arm to wrap around the woman's leg. He then brought his own leg up to knee her in the side and use his superior strength to push her off of him, while also wrenching his arm loose. She let out a grunt of pain, rolling away and quickly standing back up, resuming her dance without a second thought.

Sasuke growled in annoyance as he also stood. _"That was dangerously close,"_ he thought. _"I can't let her do something like that again._"

He met her gaze, his Sharingan blazing, only to see her glazed over eyes. It was clearly a method of preventing genjutsu, but he wasn't quite sure how she was able to keep fighting while under it.

Deciding to test it, he threw some shuriken. Nami easily twisted out of the way of the weapons. With a jerk, he pulled on the strings he had attached to the shuriken, causing them to whirl around the woman, beginning to wrap her up in the string. Just as the string closed in around her, she dropped toward the ground and rolled forward, dodging the strings. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized that she had already started on a set of seals.

His Sharingan quickly recognized the jutsu as Gufuu Nenten no Jutsu (Twisting Tornado Technique). He had seen it before, but didn't think it was possible to pull off in such a small area. He immediately started on a set of seals for a counter-jutsu but could tell he wouldn't finish before she did.

Nami finished her jutsu and began spinning, drawing her hands in to her chest so she could rotate more quickly. The positioning of her hands, he noted, changed the range of the jutsu, pulling it in to a more tightly wound swirl.

A more tightly wound, _stronger_ swirl.

He was caught in the powerful winds and picked up into the air, the jutsu cutting him with its razor sharp winds even as it launched him. Sasuke hissed in pain even as he was spun in the air violently. He got a single glimpse of where he was heading and scowled.

He was heading directly into the purple barrier.

Hinata watched in horror as Hason pulled his kunai out of Naruto's chest. With her Byakugan, she could see that his heart was beating erratically. She gasped as Naruto collapsed backward, falling before a smirking Hason. "Naruto! No!" She fell to her knees as her Byakugan watched her husband's heart slow to a dangerously low rate.

As Hason knelt down to examine the wound, placing his kunai on the ground next to him, and ensure that it was a killing blow, a burst of red chakra shot out from Naruto's prone form. It spread in a wave, sending Hason flying back. Hinata watched in astonishment as the chakra spread from Naruto's stomach throughout his body, moving noticeably toward his fatally injured heart. In front of her Byakugan enhanced eyes, the organ began to regenerate.

"_Of course,"_ she realized, _"the Kyuubi…"_ She let out a sigh of relief. Despite how much she hated that demon, sometimes, he was a blessing. Although, she hadn't known he could bring back an organ as vital as the heart.

She watched as he slowly stood, cloaked in an aura of red chakra. Across from him, Hason pushed himself to his feet. The two scowled at each other. Naruto was the first to speak.

"You've pissed me off now. You broke my fucking heart! Literally!"

The younger nin just glared. "Fine. If destroying your heart won't kill you, I'll just have to decapitate you."

Naruto shook his head, his red chakra slowly dissipating. "That won't happen." He pulled out a unique, three pronged kunai. "I'm playing seriously now." Without another word, he launched the kunai at his opponent.

Recognizing what it was, Hason smirked. He caught the weapon out of the air by the handle. He quickly flicked his wrist in a sweeping motion over the side of the throwing knife.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow. "You do realize what I can do with that kunai, right?"

His opponent gave him a confident look. "Of course I do. I'm ready for it."

Naruto, being Naruto, couldn't resist the challenge. "Let's test that then, shall we?"

Hinata watched as he gathered chakra for one of his more famous jutsu with her Byakugan. An instant later, the chakra dispersed, and he gave a confused look. Hinata's eyes widened.

The Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) wasn't working.

Sakura blocked another swing from the invisibly enlarged blade and struck back, aiming for his wrist. Chiku jerked his arm downward, twisting the sword, and countered with an upward swing, attempting to cut off her arm. The pink haired kunoichi cart-wheeled out of the way, receiving just a small cut instead. As she landed, she paused to stare at her opponent. "Alright then, if you have such great plans to defeat all of us, how are you going to kill Naruto?"

Chiku straightened up and smirked. "For Uzumaki Naruto, we have something exceptional. Bangai Hason has a specialized genjutsu that will feed off of his chakra, even his demonic chakra." He crouched, preparing to charge once more.

Sakura moved into a defensive stance as she responded. "Naruto isn't useless against genjutsu any more." Chiku darted forward with a downward chop. Sakura reached up and deflected the blow to the side. "And once he's free, your guy won't last a minute with his jutsu." She matched her speech with a jab of her fist.

Chiku rolled to the side and spun into a wide sweep. "Ah, but he won't be able to use half of his abilities."

Sakura hopped backward, putting distance between them once more, a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

Chiku smirked. "Hason isn't a genjutsu master. His specialty lies in seals." His smirked widened as Sakura's eyes widened. "He has a way to neutralize the Hirashin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)."

"But that's impossible! No one except Naruto and the Yondaime have even been able to create and activate the seal!"

Chiku shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, he can't make it, or even use it. However, he has been able to create a seal that will suppress the chakra in another seal until he wants it to be activated. It was what he used to conceal the exploding seals throughout the village. It is his masterpiece. He's practiced it so much that he can write it within a tenth of a second. It'll put Naruto right where Hason wants him." He paused as he grinned predatorily. "Just like I have you now."

Sakura scowled at him, disbelief clear on her face. "And how's that?"

Still grinning, he raised his arm and jabbed it forward. To her surprise, Sakura felt a thin blade pierce her chest, causing pain to pulse through her. That shouldn't have been possible! His expanded sword should have only made it half of the way to her at max! She glared at her enemy, coughing up blood.

He merely smirked in victory at her. "I can change the length and width of the blade as long as I have enough sound energy stored in the weapon." His smirk widened as he pushed the sword in further. "Checkmate."


	47. Villains Abound

**Villains Abound**

Koulien grit his teeth as he stared at the newcomer. "Hanabi-sama, you know I like you. Please, don't make me hurt you."

Hanabi just kept up her cold gaze. "If you want to get to Hinashin-chan, you'll have to go through me."

He hesitated, looking at his favorite main branch relative in desperation. Then, he resolved his determination and dropped into a Jyuuken stance. "I'm sorry, Hanabi-sama, but I cannot fail this mission. If I have to incapacitate you to do so, I will."

Hanabi dropped into a similar stance, setting her jaw. The two watched each other for a while, both clearly hesitant to start this. Eventually, Koulien let out an irritated grunt and stepped forward, moving into a series of Jyuuken strikes. Hanabi shifted half a step back to give herself a more stable stance as she brought her hands up to block the trio of jabs. As soon as she saw an opening, she countered with a similar jab at his lower abdomen.

He redirected the blow wide and attacked with a double thrust at her chest. She brought both her arms up to deflect the strikes over her shoulders. Then, she dropped back a bit, falling into the stance for the Eight Trigrams technique. Koulien immediately imitated her stance with a murmur. "That won't work."

"Hakke Hyaku Nijuhachi Sho." (Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty Eight Palms)

They met each other strike for strike, palms landing against one another with each one as their chakra pulses canceled each other out. They finished with a blur of motion, followed by a chakra pulse powerful enough to blow them both back. Hanabi caught herself on the wall and dropped down, panting. That technique always required so much chakra.

But she was fresh, while Koulien had already fought the group of genin. Surprisingly, when she looked up, he was only panting about as hard as she was. He gave her a small smirk. "I've always had one of the higher chakra capacities in the clan, or did you forget?"

Hanabi only shook her head. So she wouldn't be able to outlast him. That made things a bit more complicated. He had 15 years more practice than she did. He was better than her, for now. She scowled. She would have to resort to a fighting style that she wasn't fond of and that she hadn't mastered.

Koulien watched curiously as she slipped her ninja sandals off. They would only hinder her now. She switched into an adopted version of the basic Jyuuken stance, her knees bent a little more than usual. The older Hyuuga raised an eyebrow, dropping into a defensive stance.

Hanabi darted forward with a jab. Koulien blocked and countered with one of his own. Hanabi spun out of the way, bringing her hand around to backhand her opponent. The elder Hyuuga's brows furrowed, surprised by the unusual attack coming from a Jyuuken user. He brought his arm up and blocked it with his forearm. He was shocked to feel the slightly weakened chakra of a Jyuuken strike flow through his block, even though it had come from the back of her hand.

Scowling, he jabbed at her underarm with his other hand. She barely managed to start a roll out of the way, getting clipped in the side by the attack in the process. She winced in pain even as she came out of the roll, bringing her leg around in a kick.

Koulien saw it coming, and, this time, caught the blow with the hand that had already had its chakra flow halted in order to prevent any further damage. He was unsurprised when another pulse of chakra flowed through his hand. Before she had time to recover, he jabbed her twice along her leg before tossing it aside, allowing her to roll away. She struggled to her feet, wincing when the leg that had just been hit almost gave out.

The two paused, Koulien giving her an upraising look. "You learned how to channel Jyuuken strikes through chakra points all along your body," he noted with an impressed look. "I haven't heard of any Hyuuga doing that except for with the Kaiten. It'll give you less stability but more versatility. A gamble against another Jyuuken user." He held up his nearly useless hand. "Although it seems to have only been somewhat useful."

Hanabi scowled at him, forcing herself to her full height. That leg would be ineffectual in delivering any attacks, but she could still at least walk on it. She settled back into her stance silently. She would defend Hinashin-chan, as she told Hinata-nii-chan she would.

Koulien dropped into his own stance. "I'm sorry, Hanabi-sama, but I must end this now and accomplish my mission."

The elder Hyuuga rushed forward, chakra flashing in one palm. She limboed under his jab and brought her leg around to counter with a kick to the side. Koulien put up his already inhibited arm to block and used to opportunity to strike her in the stomach with two fingers. She coughed up blood, collapsing on the floor. Koulien took the opportunity to seal her chakra points on both arms and then backed off. No use in injuring her too bad. That would only make the situation look even more brutal.

With all the obstacles out of the way, Koulien turned to look at Hinashin. "Now, how about I get us out of here," he said, reaching down to pick her up around the waist.

For the second time, he caught sight of movement and was forced to abandon his attempt to grab her. Just as he moved, a kunai flew through the location he had just stood. He snarled angrily, turning on the newcomer. "What is it with all these interruptions?"

A man in a trench coat and sunglasses stared back at him. "What have you done to the genin?" he asked in a monotone.

An explosion rocked the area. Panicked screams echoed on the building walls as debris flew over the heads of the civilians on their way to safety.

"Doton: Doryūheki." (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)

A line of mud was strewn in between the blast and the citizens. A moment later, it rose into a large wall of rock, shielding the people of Konoha from the debris. They looked at it, startled for a second, before a voice started them forward again.

"Let's go, people! We're almost there!" shouted Tounyo, who was guiding them from the back. Koukatsu watched over them from atop his earth wall, wiping sweat from his brow. The combination of using that jutsu and trying to defend the civilians from other explosions were starting to take their toll.

He cringed slightly when a blast went off ahead of them. Rei and Hato would be up there, probably using their speed and powerful taijutsu to knock away any debris large enough to cause serious injury. Kizui and Shan were at the front, guiding them along.

Koukatsu was just glad that the explosions were lessening in frequency. Those were the first two that had happened nearby in almost a minute. He hopped down to land on the right side of the stream of civilians. He tensed when the small pieces of debris around them rose into the air. As he watched them continue upward, they disintegrated into smaller particles midair. He looked at where they were headed, and his eyes widened.

The Kazekage floated on some of his sand, gathering the dust of the debris in front of him. A second later, the debris, now in the form of sand, lowered back down to surround the citizens on the two sides, forming a wall. He had used his supply of sand to grind down the debris and create more sand. Even as Koukatsu stood in awe of his ability to defend so many people so effortlessly, the Kazekage continued to make more sand, moving up the line of civilians.

Koukatsu instinctively moved to use another Earth Style Wall when he heard another explosion, only to realize that he didn't have to. The Kazekage's sand had blocked the whole thing. He flinched when a series of blasts followed. All along the line of citizens, alarmed screams erupted, even as the wall of sand defended them from any damage.

A moment later, Koukatsu felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find Tounyo. "Let's just try to keep the civilians from panicking," said the blond, his voice tense. The dark haired boy nodded. He knew the people were more likely to listen to an Uchiha than a nameless genin.

"Stay calm and keep moving!" he shouted. "Kazekage-sama will make sure to keep us safe!"

The majority of people glanced at him before starting forward again at an accelerated rate. The two genin shared a nod before splitting up to usher them on from the two sides.

The Otokage, as he had proclaimed himself, sat on a makeshift throne, a fist supporting the side of his face while his other hand hung loosely over the arm rest. He had an expression on his face like he was completely bored. All of his plans were moving along wonderfully, albeit a little slower than he had originally intended.

But that was okay. It wasn't like he was limited by his time on this earth. He could wait. He was a patient man. His only irritation was that he would have to find new help every so often.

One of his jounin ranked ninja entered the chamber and bowed. The Otokage watched with amusement as the man shifted uncomfortably, clearly unnerved by the power of the man in front of him. He put on a stern expression and stared the man down, inwardly laughing as the man cringed away from him. "What do you want?" demanded the Otokage.

He almost chuckled aloud when the man flinched again. So far, only Omoi had been able to resist his harsh gaze. The weakness of all those around him amused him to no end.

Finally, the man gathered himself enough to speak. "We have n-news Otokage-s-sama."

The stronger man sat up straighter upon hearing that, weakening his gaze so as to allow the man to continue unhindered. "Go on."

Bolstered by his superior's interest, the jounin spoke with more confidence. "Omoi-san has tried to inform his contact about us once more."

"Oh? Did he say anything important?"

"No. Just the information that has been made known to the rest of the village already."

"Hm. He's playing it smart. He knows we know he's a spy. He won't say anything that'll give away his allegiances. Where is he now?"

The jounin hesitated a moment. "He's setting up the agreement with Kumogakure."

"Good," hissed the Otokage. "Keep an eye on him, but otherwise let him do as he pleases. His loyalty does not concern me." When the man did not immediately leave, the Otokage turned a piercing gaze on him. "Was there more?"

"H-hai, Otokage-sama. The four shinobi that went rogue a few months back have made their move. They seem to have attacked all of Konoha on their own."

That really caught the man's attention. "Now, how did they manage that?"

"We've received word that there are detonations going off throughout the village. I'm sure we'll have more information soon."

The Otokage gave the man an appraising look. "Interesting. Do you have anything else to tell me?"

"Actually, sir, I do. We've found Ookami Hokori."

A wide, victorious grin spread across the Otokage's face. That was _very_ good news. He had been searching for that man for a long time. Now that he had found him, he could start working on one of his biggest ambitions since essentially achieving immortality.

He would be increasing his power even more.

It was only a matter of controlling it.

He returned his attention to the jounin in front of him. "Where did you find him?"

"It was as Jishou said. He came after Kuroji as soon as he was finished with his training. The poison you invented to counter his demon was effective in subduing him. His body is en route to our location as we speak."

"Good. Very good."

"Um…Otokage-sama…Jishou is expecting you to go treat Kuroji."

The Otokage gave a dark grin. "I think I'm in such a good mood that I'll give him what he wants." He stood up and walked toward the door. He paused under the archway. "You will take care of everything here, I trust." The threat on his life was left unsaid.

The jounin gulped and nodded.

The Otokage proceeded out of the building, an evil smile on his face. This had been a good day.

The Leader of the Akatsuki stood where he had met with Omoi not two hours before. Something was seriously wrong. Omoi had done a number of things that he would never do.

For one, he had allowed himself to be followed. He had already killed the three men, so it wasn't a big deal, but the simple fact that Omoi hadn't taken care of them before he got there was dangerous. He had to have known they were there. He wouldn't be in Akatsuki if he couldn't sense and kill the men.

Secondly, Omoi hadn't given him any new information. In fact, he actually repeated himself, telling him things that he had already said. That _never_ happened.

To the Leader, it all meant one thing.

Omoi had been found out.

His options in this case were fairly limited. If he left Omoi where he was and Orochimaru (or Kabuto or whoever he was…no one was quite sure. The man wasn't stable) decided to kill him, he would be dead. Despite how strong Omoi was, he was still no match for a man that powerful. Even he, the leader of Akatsuki, would have a close fight against such a man.

But if he pulled him out, they would be flying blind. Not knowing what a man like Orochimaru (or whoever) would do could cause extreme holes in their plans. He always put in a chaotic element that could never be predicted without pinpoint accurate information. It would be dangerous going without a source of information on him.

He stopped his pondering when he felt another presence join him. He turned around and was unsurprised to find the red eyes and orange and black mask of the most powerful man in Akatsuki.

"Uchiha-sama, I was not expecting to see you."

"You must withdraw Omoi. His abilities are too useful to lose right now."

The Leader raised an eyebrow, tempted to ask how he knew Omoi had been found out, but thought better of it. Considering Omoi had so much power over minds, he probably knew that this man was actually the true leader of Akatsuki, rather than him, and had found a way to inform him.

He also knew better than to question Uchiha Madara.

"Hai, Uchiha-sama."

Madara turned to leave but paused in the doorway. He glanced over his shoulder darkly. "Things may not have worked out as I wanted 15 years ago, but I expect things to go more smoothly this time. We've spent too much time setting this up to blow it now."

"Of course. I will ensure our success."

"You had better. I will not tolerate failure again."

Pain nodded, feeling the full weight of the threat as Madara walked out. Things had better go well when they finally initiate the plan. He couldn't afford to let that man down again.

But for now, he had to inform Omoi to withdraw.

Taka stared at the barrier in mild irritation. She, along with Taru, Hari, and a couple of medic nin, were trapped inside the infirmary because of that barrier. They couldn't break through the walls without risking the safety of someone in the infirmary, so they had to find a way by, or to dispel, the purple wall.

So far, they'd had no luck.

Hari groaned from his position lying on the floor. "I hate not being able to do anything."

Taka ignored him and continued to stare at the barrier, Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu) active as her mind worked overtime. Beside her, Taru slouched down, finally giving up on her own attempts. She stepped back and joined Hari on the ground, though in a more relaxed position. Taka growled angrily. "Is there absolutely no way through?"

One of the medics looked up from where he was checking on a patient. "I know you want to help, but this was probably better for us because this way, the injured are not in any danger. While we can't get out, neither can anyone get in."

Taka only grumbled, glaring through the purple walls. She couldn't help but worry. The rest of the genin were out there, including her teammate, and she could only wonder what was happening to them.

It didn't help that by the time they had gotten back to watching the barrier after helping move the patients to a safer location, Hitayio had vanished inside the purple walls, supposedly up to the one floor above them or the roof. She was, perhaps, even more worried about him than anyone else, just due to the fact that he was trapped with one of the most powerful ninja in the village doing battle with a shinobi that was, at the very least, dangerous. Hitayio could very easily be caught in the cross-fire.

"Come on, Taka-chan," said Taru, grabbing her attention. "Relax and come join us. It's no use worrying."

Taka sighed. She knew her fellow genin was right.

She still hated it though.

((AN: It should be noted that I originally wrote this plot well before the Pain/Nagato invasion arc. As such, a few of the members of Akatsuki are still alive and they still have a plan for the nine tailed beasts. However, I refuse to even acknowledge Madara's plan to "eat the moon". They will be a part of this story, though not a major one for some time. I suppose that, due to this, this story is AU, starting at approximately that point. I don't really care. I'm only trying to weave a good tale. Thanks for reading!))


	48. Fall of the Trio

((Okay, I am terribly sorry for the extremely late update, but I went to my grandparents this weekend, where I had no internet. I would have posted before I left but it was Friday morning and I was about 500 words short of where I wanted to be. I thought it would be better if I waited to get there. I hope the quality of this chapter makes up for it.))

**Fall of the Trio**

Shino stared at Koulien, his emotions hidden by his sunglasses and high collar. "What have you done to the genin?" he asked in a monotone.

The Hyuuga scowled. "I have only disabled them. I've done no lasting damage to any of them."

Shino scrutinized the other jounin, looking for any trace of deceit. It was when Hanabi spoke up, coughing all the while, that he got his answer.

"He intends to kidnap Hinashin. -cough- Something we cannot let happen -cough- because, as I'm sure you know, -cough- Naruto will do something foolish."

Shino's eyes flicked over to the Uzumaki heir, who was trying to push herself to her feet unsuccessfully. Glancing around, he noticed that the Sand ninja, Souran, was unconscious, though he looked uninjured. To his side, he could see Katame standing there, blood falling from a gash on the side of her head and lips. She was clearly the most stable of the group, though he doubted she would be any help against another jounin.

Shino glared at Koulien. "This is a little excessive for disabling genin," he said calmly, allowing his kikai to spill from his sleeves. "For attacking fellow Leaf shinobi and an allied Sand genin, you are a traitor. The punishment for traitors is death."

Koulien scowled, dropping into a fighting stance. They could both tell he was getting tired. The Jyuuken he received to his left arm only aggravated things. He had little chance against a jounin as well known as Shino.

Still, he had to try. He couldn't fail the clan elders.

"I am no traitor. This is a Hyuuga matter, and you should not interfere."

Shino glanced back at Hanabi, who nodded weakly. He turned back on the elder Hyuuga. "Whether it is judged to be or not, I have the permission of a main branch family member to interfere." His bugs swarmed forward, intent on devouring Koulien's chakra.

The Hyuuga waited until the kikai were almost upon him before using his technique. "Kaiten!" The bugs were sent flying, some of the crushed by the sheer chakra output of the ability. Koulien immediately darted at Shino, meaning to disable him as quickly as possible. He lashed out with multiple Jyuuken strikes, though they were slowed by his inability to use both hands.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on a long to mid-range fighter being as fast as Shino was. The Aburame fluidly dodged out of the way of each blow without letting himself be touched. By the end of the combo, the kikai were once again closing in on Koulien, so he was forced to retreat. In such an enclosed space, he was quickly becoming surrounded. He was also running out of chakra, maybe enough for one more Kaiten. He was running out of options.

He had one last desperate idea.

He ran into the middle of the kikai and performed his last Kaiten, scattering them. He dashed over to Hinashin's prone form and grabbed her arm, quickly throwing her over his shoulder, ignoring her weak struggling. He had to get out of here and lose Shino. It was his only chance.

He made for the railing. To his surprise, Hanabi rose up to intercept him. She lashed out with a weak punch, but it was so slow that he merely sidestepped and threw her to the ground. He started to run again, only to feel bugs crawling along his skin. He looked more closely with his Byakugan and found a small group of kikai swarming about him. He scowled and tried to brush them off, even as more of them came closer to him.

With a growl, he began darting for the railing again, noting how Shino was moving to block him with his Byakugan. Hindered as he was by the body over his shoulder, he wouldn't be able to engage him. He would have to get around.

Shino appeared in front of him in a ready stance. Before Koulien was even within arm's reach, he punched in his direction. The Hyuuga's eyes widened as bugs were launched off the fist in his direction. He tried to twist out of the way, but about half the kikai managed to grab a hold of Hinashin and crawled over her onto Koulien.

He grimaced as he realized that there were too many already on him. He wouldn't be able to make it away in time to deliver Hinashin before his chakra ran out.

He dropped Hinashin to the ground as the rest of the bugs merged on him. He gave Shino a resigned look. "Well played. How did you get the first set of bugs on me?"

Shino pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "I knew you were after Hinashin, so I had some of my kikai lay in wait on her body."

Koulien let out a snort. "Clever. You've won. Drain me of my chakra and take me in."

Shino quickly obliged.

Sasuke had about a second before he was going to hit the purple wall. He sped through the last two seals of his jutsu and pushed more chakra than usual into the technique.

"Doton: Enchoutsuchi no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Earth Dome Jutsu)

Immediately, a wall of stone rose up just inside the purple barrier and capped itself off on the top. The wall appeared just in time to catch Sasuke and stop him from catching flame due to the Four Seals barrier. The dome was larger than he usually created, encompassing the entire area, but now he would have some control over the walls. Sasuke used chakra to cling to the wall even as he started another jutsu.

Nami had yet to relent on her cyclone technique, so he was still being cut up as he ran through a few quick seals, channeling additional chakra through his feet the adjust the wall around him. The earth began spreading to create a secondary, smaller dome surrounding Sasuke. Just before it completely cut him off, he finished his second jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)

He sealed himself inside the earth wall just as he released the fireball to be caught in the whirlwind and amplified. He waited until he could no longer feel the drain of keeping the earth stable around him before allowing himself to be freed.

He tilted his head up to look at his opponent. She seemed mildly burned but otherwise alright and surrounded by walls of water on four sides. The music had stopped, the boom box apparently destroyed during the tornado. Still, she was going through another jutsu.

And her eyes had cleared of any haze.

She must've noticed the heat of the fire enough to drop her subconscious dancing and used a Water Wall jutsu. It looked like she now wanted to start a jutsu battle.

Sasuke smirked. She was foolish if she thought she could win a jutsu battle against someone with a Sharingan, especially someone with as many jutsu as he had.

His Sharingan immediately analyzed her seals and chakra movements, telling him what the jutsu was, even while storing it in his memory bank.

Futon: Tamaoshi no Jutsu (Wind Release: Pressure Bullet Jutsu)

Sasuke released his chakra and fell from the wall, allowing it to reform into its standard dome. He started a jutsu of his own to counter hers. She finished just moments before he did and shot three bolts of pressurized air out of her hands.

"Raiton: Shougekiha no Jutsu," (Lightning Release: Shockwave Jutsu) he murmured in response.

A pulse of charged energy spread from his body throughout the whole area. The pressurized bullets contacted with his wave and exploded, unable to be contained by the jutsu she had used after the extra energy was added to it. Half a second later, the wave passed over Nami, whose whole body tensed in a short uncontrollable spasm.

Sasuke took this time to start another jutsu. Nami saw this and scowled, readying herself to dodge.

"Katon: Kasuihonoo no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Stream of Flame Jutsu) He brought his hand up to his mouth and shot out a thin, but extremely quick, line of fire. Nami rolled out of the way, working on a set of seals. The fire seared straight through the earth dome he had created earlier, though it was prevented from leaving by the purple barrer. Sasuke adjusted his aim so that the continuous stream coming out of his mouth was once more heading toward his opponent. The Oto nin jumped out of the way just as she finishing her technique. Sasuke's Sharingan told him what the jutsu was.

Futon: Sora Tsuiraku no Jutsu. (Wind Release: Falling Sky Jutsu)

Sasuke felt a sudden pressure on top of him, pushing him to his knees and completely putting his stream of flame out. It would've been even more powerful, but the earth dome around them prevented her from pulling much air from outside. He scowled as he saw her continue on with another set of seals.

Suiton: Gogyoukizu no Jutsu (Water Release: Cutting Water Jutsu)

Knowing what was coming, Sasuke immediately started on a counter jutsu. They finished almost simultaneously. The water that had formed her water barrier earlier rose into the air and formed into three large, curved blades of water. They began spinning and flew at Sasuke.

"Futon: Uindo Kamisori no Jutsu," (Wind Release: Razor Wind Jutsu) he muttered.

He waved his arm in a wide arc. An invisible blade arced outward, speeding toward Nami. The four blades impacted. Sasuke's jutsu completely ripped apart all three water weapons, causing them to splash to the ground uselessly. Nami's eyes widened just as the attack landed on her chest, cutting a deep gash.

Sasuke took advantage of her surprise to use another quick jutsu.

"Doton: Soutei Daichi no Jutsu" (Earth Release: Ground Binding Jutsu)

Two tendrils of stone rose out of the roof below them and wrapped around Nami's legs, firmly holding her in place. Still, Sasuke gave her no reprieve. He started another set of seals. His opponent clutched her wounded chest, wincing, as she reached down with a kunai in her other hand to try to cut free of the stone. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough.

"Raiton: Rakurai no Jutsu" (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt Jutsu)

A bolt of electricity formed from the air around Sasuke and darted toward Nami. With a hiss, the bolt exploded energetically, large enough to blow shrapnel into every portion of the domed off roof. Sasuke ignored the small pieces that bounced on his skin. He knew she wouldn't have been defeated by that attack. No ninja worth her salt would be killed by it. He would have to take it one step higher and make sure that she was dead.

He began the seals for the Chidori.

He noticed that, while he was doing this, the smoke wasn't clearing as quickly as dust normally did. He quickly realized why. It had turned into a mist. She had used a water jutsu to cover herself from his lightning jutsu. As long as she wasn't touching the water, it would work rather effectively to ground the current, but it also vaporized quickly. The vapor that now concealed her from view.

Sasuke reached out with his earth dome, making it grow out from the wall near the mist. It wouldn't have to actually do any damage, just make enough movement to scared her out of the mist. A second later, she leapt out of the cloud of mist.

Sasuke, Chidori blaring with the sound of a thousand birds, jumped up to meet her while she was still in the air and couldn't dodge as effectively. Nami saw him coming and turned to better face him.

She lashed out with a punch. Sasuke deflected the blow outward with his free hand and jabbed with his Chidori, even as Nami jabbed back with a kunai.

The jutsu dug into the woman's chest, piercing her heart and lung. She let out a strangled gasp. Not half a second later, she fell limp on his arm.

With a jerk, he pushed her off his arm, allowing her to fall onto her back, dead. He had to admit, that had been one of the more challenging fights he had been a part of in the last few years. His chakra was running rather low, and he had cuts all over his body.

He glanced down at the kunai imbedded in his stomach. He yanked it out, grunting in pain. Just as he was about to fall to one knee in pain as his adrenalin left him, he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder.

"I got ya, Sasuke."

The Uchiha glanced up to find Rock Lee holding him up. He let out a grunt of thanks. He hadn't even noticed when the purple barrier around them had fallen.

"Let's get you to the hospital."

Sasuke merely nodded, allowing himself to be half-carried away.

Sakura scowled at her opponent. Her lung at been punctured, and she was having trouble breathing. It hurt like a bitch.

But if he thought that this was checkmate, he was horribly mistaken. She could heal the damage to herself within a minute.

Only problem was getting herself that minute.

First, she had to separate the two of them.

She brought both hands up to grip the invisible blade in her chest. She winced slightly when the sharp side dug into her fingers, adding to the pain from her chest. She flared her chakra through her hands, shouting "Kai!" The chakra from her hands washed over the blade, disintegrating the shield holding it together.

With a violent shockwave, the weapon burst, the sound that had been expanding the length and width of the blade knocking both of them on their asses. Blood soon flowed freely from both of their ears. Chiku, having been unready for the burst, had not been able to shield his ears with his chakra. They were both now completely deaf.

Sakura immediately started to heal the wound in her chest. If she didn't want to die from lack of oxygen within the next few minutes, she had to. As she did this, she was careful to keep an eye on Chiku. He stood up and waved his sword in front of him, scowling. A second later, he ran a hand along the blade, which hadn't grown at all. It seemed he couldn't use his ability if he couldn't hear.

Unfortunately, he could still attack her before she had finished healing her most serious wound. He turned his attention to her with a glare. He clearly wasn't happy about losing his hearing. He darted at her, sword poised to strike. Wincing, she dodged to the side, keeping one hand on her chest to work on healing it while the other pulled out a kunai.

They were both slowed by dulled reflexes. Being unable to hear made it so that they had to see the movement to dodge it. Sakura was at a disadvantage with only one hand and half her attention on healing herself. She was barely managing to keep up, even staying on the defensive, while Chiku moved from attack to attack fluidly.

She ducked under a swipe, stepping back. The next chop, she deflected to the side. Chiku then jabbed at her. She knew she wouldn't be able to dodge it in time, so she pushed it as far aside as she could while moving the opposite direction. The blade ended up embedded in her shoulder. The chakra that she had been channeling through that hand failed her, the green glow dimming. She winced, pulling back. Chiku smirked, flourishing his weapon, before rushing at her again.

With being unable to heal her lung, she gave herself maybe two minutes before her body failed her. She had to end this quickly. For that reason, she met his swing with her own, the blades clashing in the middle. The two pushed against each other, Sakura gaining a slight upper hand with her chakra enhanced strength.

Just as she was about to give a burst of chakra enhanced strength to push him away and start attacking, she saw movement over his shoulder. She shifted her attention and what she saw almost made her smirk. She resisted the urge and held back on her chakra surge.

Half a second later, Chiku's eyes widened as a curved sword of red metal emerged from his throat. The spinal cord had been severed, an instant kill. Being unable to hear, he hadn't noticed the second enemy's approach. His body went limp as Sakura backed off. The form behind Chiku pushed the body off his weapon.

Hah-kah Hitayio stood behind him, bloody sword lowered at his side. He spoke with a dark look aimed at Chiku and, though Sakura couldn't hear what he said, she could still read his lips.

"Payback's a bitch."

Afterward, he turned toward Sakura, who was once again healing her wounded lung. She would have a long road to recovery, but she would live. She allowed her body to collapse to the ground while she focused on her healing, only to be caught under both arms. On one side was Hitayio. On the other…

Ino smiled softly at her.

Both had blood coming out of their ears, but were otherwise fine. And they apparently planned to take care of her. With a relieved sigh, she let Ino take over the healing and fell into unconsciousness.

Naruto stared at Hason in confusion. Why wasn't his Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) working?

Then, he saw it.

The seal on his kunai flashed as he tried to activate it again, only for a second, smaller but still complex, seal to blink into and then back out of visibility. He had cancelled it…

Naruto glared at Hason, who only smirked in response. "Guess I can't use Hiraishin against you," said Naruto plainly. "I'll just defeat you with my other techniques."

The Sound nin's grin only widened. "Oh, I know all about your Rasengan, and its many forms. Unfortunately for you, it's a slow technique. It'll be easy enough to dodge."

That statement alone made Naruto match his opponent's grin. "Then, you don't know my Rasengan very well." He darted at Hason, fist pulled back, readying an attack.

Hason fell back into a defensive stance, fists raised in cover. He deflected the first punch and caught the second. The smirk on Naruto's face gave him just enough pause to see the Rasengan already forming in the blonde's other hand. He hopped back to put some distance between them.

Damn, he could make that fast. Hason was beginning to have doubts as to whether he could avoid it every time he used it. His attention was pulled back by a shout.

"Rasenshuriken!" Naruto then proceeded to throw his Rasengan in a curve at his opponent.

Hason rolled out of the way easily enough. However, when he came back up, he found himself now facing five Naruto's. _"Kage Bunshin,"_ he realized. Even without Hiraishin, this guy was quick. He was starting to understand just how in over his head had become.

He noticed two of the clones make rasengan, while the other three attacked. Hason knew he had to be aware of those two Rasengan, so he made sure to keep track of them. He stayed on the defensive and received several punches to his chest, shoulder, and back for his trouble, which were painful but not debilitating, before one of the Rasengan wielding clones finally attacked. He hopped backward, allowing the attack to pass under his arms. Another clone was caught in its path and immediately dispelled from the deadly blow.

With one less Rasengan to worry about, Hason started to go on the offensive. He sidestepped one punch and then ducked under the next, moving inside the Naruto's guard. He rose with an uppercut to the chin, successfully dispelling that clone.

The next attack that came, he realized, was a distraction, as there were two of them coming at him at once, one with a Rasengan. He jumped out of the way of the Rasengan, kicking the other attacking clone on his way up to get rid of it. Unfortunately, this put him in the air, where he couldn't dodge as well.

The only Naruto that hadn't just rushed him leapt up after him. Reaching out, Naruto attacked him with his hand in a mimicry of a claw. Hason tried to rotate out of the way, but only managed to shift enough to make the attack, whatever it was, hit his shoulder. He let out a howl of agony as he felt five small points of flesh all try to move in every direction at the same time. The technique was powerful enough to send Hason spinning uncontrollably back to the ground. He landed with a sickening thud, but immediately pushed himself back to his feet.

When he looked back, he found himself facing just one Naruto, the only clone left apparently dispelling itself. Hason scowled at the blond. "And _what_ was _that_?" he asked angrily, even as he took stock of his injuries. His shoulder was torn to shreds, bleeding profusely, and his arm hung limp at his side. That wasn't good.

Naruto responded to his question by raising a finger, a grin on his face. A moment later, a tiny swirl of chakra formed in a sphere on the tip of his finger. Naruto's grin widened as Hason's eyes did the same. "_This_ is what I affectionately call a Chibi-Rasengan. I can make it with a single chakra coil, like the ones in my fingers, in about a tenth the time it takes me to make a normal Rasengan. It has a lot less power in it and requires intense control of my chakra." He paused, raising a second finger to join the first. "But the best part is that I can make them on all five of my fingers at the same time." A second small sphere of chakra formed on the other finger, proving his point. Naruto gave his opponent a very fox-like grin. "Still think you know everything about my Rasengan?"

Hason only glared at him, trying to find a way to fix this situation. It was not looking good. He couldn't use one of his hands, so he couldn't use jutsu at all. Sealing wasn't exactly useful in combat, except in special circumstances. He really didn't see how he could get out of this.

His choice was made for him when Naruto rushed at him, two small Rasengan still in hand. Hason deflected the first punch and dodged to the side when Naruto lashed out with his two Rasengan, and still received multiple small cuts along the nearby skin for his effort. The Sound nin countered with a kick to Naruto's side while the Konoha shinobi was still off-balance from his attack.

He was surprised when, as the kick connected, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. _"Another Kage Bunshin? Then, where is the real one?"_ He spun where he stood to look around inside the purple barrier. He heard a "Poof" and turned around just in time to see Naruto appear where his own kunai, which he had used to pierce the blonde's heart, had been left. His eyes widened when he saw the technique already formed in Naruto's hand. He barely managed to get his good arm in front of him to at least absorb some of the blow.

"Odama Rasengan!"

Hason felt his arm being ripped apart before the power of the jutsu finally sent him flying at extremely high speed. He only just had the presence of mind to lower the purple barrier before he rammed into it and killed himself.

Naruto watched his opponent fall into one of the nearby alleyways. He let out a sigh of relief. That was one of the most annoying fights he had been in lately. He normally _enjoyed_ his fights, but when he got caught in genjutsu and then couldn't use one of his favorite moves, it was just irritating.

"Naruto-kun!"

He turned just in time to catch Hinata's body as she tackled him to the ground. He quickly hugged her close.

"Oh, I was so worried. I couldn't do anything outside that barrier!"

"I know." He kissed her forehead. "But I'm fine." He paused to just enjoy her presence for a moment. It was always great to be back with her after a life-threatening experience, which were frighteningly common. Then, a thought occurred to him. "We should probably go check on that Sound ninja, make sure he's dead."

Hinata pulled back and nodded. They both stood up and jumped over the side of the arena wall. A few seconds later, they landed next to an empty, body-sized crater. Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan. A few seconds later, she shook her head.

"There's no trace of him."

Naruto cursed violently. He stopped when he felt a hand on his arm.

"At least you're still here," Hinata reminded him.

He smiled softly at her, leaning in to kiss her. "I'll always be here for you."

((Alright! One of the longest chapters I've written since I started updating weekly during Summer and Winter, and it concludes the big fights of the first part of this fic. Probably one more chapter, a mini-epilogue of sorts, and I'll be done with the first part of the fic, after which I'll have a time skip similar to canon. Unfortunately, I've not planned out the second part in detail yet, and I want to do that before I start writing it, so it'll be a few weeks before I start posting after that. I do apologize for that, but I feel it is necessary to maintain the quality of my work. I'd also like reader opinion on some of the pairings, especially those that reviewed with characters. I've got a few I want, a few I'm leaning toward, and a few I'm not sure about. In the meantime, I'll probably post bios for all the new characters, including posting those that were reviewed. If you have any comments or questions or want to tell me what pairings you like, feel free to leave them in a review. ))


	49. PostExam

**Post-Exam**

"So, we are in agreement that the Mizukage had no knowledge of the attack?" Tsunade asked Gaara.

The Kazekage stared piercingly at said leader of the Mist village, trying to find some hint of treachery, as he had been doing for the duration of the conversation. Throughout the whole thing, Mei had kept a smile on her face, as if they weren't discussing her committing an act of war.

Finally, Gaara turned his gaze toward the Hokage. "We are in agreement," he stated with a nod.

Mei's smile widened at that. She clapped her hands once in feigned excitement. "Good! Now, I recommend we strengthen our friendship with a new treaty. An alliance between our three nations. We will stand together against our enemies and assist each other in finding traitors amongst our ranks." Her eyes flashed darkly as she said this, even though her mouth continued to smile. It was a threat to the two of them, while also apologizing for being unable to find the three Sound nin in her ranks herself.

Tsunade stared at her seriously. "And what would you like to include in this treaty?"

Mei tilted her head to the side slightly. "Only non-aggression agreements, a defensive alliance in which we agree to help each other should any of us get attacked, and an agreement to have a liaison of sorts between each of our countries, much like you already have with Suna."

Tsunade nodded. "I am not going to agree to anything yet, but I will at least consider what you are asking. I would like to look over it in more detail immediately." Beside her, Gaara nodded his agreement.

The Mizukage grinned even wider. "Of course."

"So, what did you think of the final fights of the chuunin exam?" inquired Konohamaru with a slight grin. "Things were so hectic that we never really got to talk about it."

The five Leaf sensei with teams that had made it to the prelims, plus Temari, were gathered together for a meal, taking a small break from repairs.

After the defending shinobi had realized that the supposed attack was only a bunch of explosive tags, albeit powerful ones, they had focused on containing the detonations and guiding the civilians to safety. After Naruto had driven off the final member of the attacking squad, the explosions had finally stopped. By some miracle, they had only sustained two dozen injuries, two of them ninja, and just a single death. The damage, itself, was extensive, but the efforts of the shinobi, most notably Gaara with his use of sand to defend the citizens, had saved a lot of lives.

Still, it would be months of intensive repairs before the village was back to normal.

With that news, it had been decided that it would be best to continue the exams the next day. It would show strength to all of the other nations, giving the impression that Konoha and her allies were unharmed by such an assault. It was a show of bravado and would also help determine which genin were eligible for promotion. Only problem was that it had split the ninja force into a section for repair and another for defense of the exams.

Considering the clientele it would earn the countries involved, it was a risk they were willing to take.

Since then, the genin, along with their sensei, had been on repair duty constantly, laying bricks for walls, providing those that lost a home with a place to live and food, and nailing wood together to at least give a temporary shelter. They were working from dawn til dusk to heal the village.

This was one of the few breaks they would have, so Konohamaru wanted to make some conversation out of it, especially since the genin had all gone off to the side to bond with each other. They all seemed to get along rather well.

They all knew that he was referring to the continuation of the exam, since they had discussed the first round as it happened. They had been separated for the second round and beyond to act as a more spread out defense.

"Well, I, for one, was surprised that only four genin were healthy enough to continue fighting," responded Temari with a lively seriousness. "It basically made the second round the semi-finals."

"Indeed," said Shino in his normal monotone, "It was unfortunate that Katame had to fight someone with the Byakugan. It made her genjutsu ineffective. Her defeat was inevitable."

"Don't be such a downer, Shino," exclaimed Kiba energetically. "At least Hinashin got to move on to the final without losing much strength because of it."

Temari snorted. "Yeah, and she got to fight Souran with all that energy. He had a tough fight in that Kumo kid, Uppun. The kid almost dismantled his puppet with his grappling techniques before he finally succumbed to the knockout poison. Souran barely repaired it enough in the half hour break time to use it as a clone."

Tenten couldn't help but smirk. "And that was pretty much useless because Hinashin could follow the chakra strings between his fingers and the puppet to determine which was which. Then, it was just a matter of hitting him a few times with the Jyuuken."

Konohamaru shook his head. "Hinashin got really lucky with her opponents. She had a pervert," Here he paused to giggle, remembering the two techniques he had taught her. "a genjutsu user, and a puppet user, all of which she had a counter for. I have a hard time seeing her get promoted based on what we saw, even if she was trained by me."

"The youth of all those involved was impressive, but I'm not sure any of them are ready for chuunin," declared Lee loudly.

Beside them, Shino stood. "We will see whether the Hokage agrees with your assessment in a few days." He started to walk back to where his team had been working. "We should get back to work." That brought an almost unanimous groan from the rest of the sensei. Hesitantly, they all stood up.

"As a traitor to your village and your clan, I sentence you to death."

The ringing resolve in gentle little Hinata's steely voice sent shivers down the spine of many there.

"You have one day to say your goodbyes and prepare yourself." She motioned to the side, where two of the clan's strongest jounin stood. "You will do so under constant escort. Tomorrow at noon, you will return here to have the sentence carried out using the Caged Bird Seal."

Such a death was actually one of the more merciful executions. It would instantly kill the branch member, causing no pain before he became a cold corpse.

That concluded the trial of Hyuuga Koulien, attempted kidnapper of Hyuuga Hinashin. The man was led from the room in chakra draining shackles. The observers, many that were on the Hyuuga Council of Elders, all followed, murmuring on their way out.

Hinata, flanked by the lead witness, Hanabi, and Neji, let out an exhausted sigh. Hanabi growled irritably. "I can't believe the Council of Elders abandoned him like that. They didn't even TRY to save him."

Hinata shook her head. "They couldn't. If they had, they would have been all but stating that they were the ones going traitor. As it is now, we have the word of one man against the entire Council of Elders."

"What about our spy? Could he help at all?" asked Hanabi, knowing better than to give away a name, grasping at staws.

Neji was the one to answer. "No. Were he to say anything, the rest of the council would isolate him and claim that he was the one that planned the kidnapping, stating that he used the name of the council to get Koulien to do as he wished. It would be his word against theirs, and he would become their scapegoat."

Hanabi let out a frustrated grunt. "I hate this."

Hinata sighed again. "We all do. But, unless we want to raise a political scandal the likes of which hasn't been seen since Uchiha Madara betrayed the Shodaime Hokage, we can't do anything about it."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "We know they are going to try something. We will simply have to be prepared when they do."

The other two nodded their agreement.

"Alright, shake hands." Hari stared between the two genin in front of him, who were pointedly ignoring each other. When the two proceeded to give him confused looks, Hari's gaze sharpened. "I said, _shake_!"

The two jumped simultaneously. Hesitantly, they turned toward one another. Each waited a moment before holding out a hand and shaking with reluctant respect. When they were done, they both turned away again, although the tense air around them had dispersed.

"Finally," Hari said with a sigh of relief. "You don't have to be friends with each other, as long as you accept that I am going to be close to the both of you."

"That's fine," stated Suta with a grin. "As long as you don't get all kissy-faced in front of me."

The genin from the other countries had been allowed to stay until all of their team members had been healed. Suta had taken longest on the Cloud team to heal, with the medics having to heal many of his organs as well as re-grow muscles in his limbs. His own giant sunflower technique had done more damage to Suta than almost any other combatant had taken total. Even as he stood before Hari, he still had bandages covering his arms and legs and suffered from the occasional twinge of pain from his stomach.

Beside him, Magusa gave the child-like genin a mild glare. Then, she turned back to Hari with a smile. "I can live with that. Although, I had hoped to see you _alone_ before I left."

The Mist nin had stayed to wait for her teammate, Sokudo, to get healed from his injuries due to Jyuuken. Apparently, he had suffered damage to his heart and lungs from the fight and, thus, had to stay in Konoha, the only village that knew how to properly treat Jyuuken strikes, until he was fully healed.

Suta rolled his eyes at Magusa's clear dismissal. He grabbed one of his numerous sunflower seeds and flicked it her direction, not intending to do any real damage, just annoy her. It had its intended effect as it hit her in the face and caused her to sputter.

Ignoring her, Suta hopped forward and hugged Hari around the stomach. "I'll miss you, Hari-nii-chan! Hope to see you again soon!"

The Leaf nin hugged the boy back. "I'll visit if I'm ever near Kumo."

Suta stepped back, grinning, with tears in his eyes. With a wave, he jumped away to meet with his team.

Water threatening to spill from his own eyes, Hari turned to face Magusa. She was looking at the ground, her blond hair hanging down to cover her face. It took him a second to realize that she, too, was crying.

With a soft laugh, he stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He rubbed her shoulders as she collected herself. After a minute, she looked up, and he found himself lost in her exotic purple eyes.

"Do you really like us?"

To Hari, the true question was obvious:

Do you really like _me_?

Hari smiled, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes, as he reached a hand up to her cheek. "Of course I do."

She smiled back, a touch of sadness in the expression. Then, she turned slightly away. "I'm sorry I latched onto you like that at the start of the chuunin exams. I get uncomfortable when I visit new areas. Your presence helped ease that discomfort."

Hari put a finger on her chin and raised her face to look back at him. He ran a hand along her cheek as he responded. "I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have become so close to you otherwise."

She let out a happy gasp before pulling him into a tight embrace. They stood there, holding each other, just taking comfort from the other's presence for what must have been minutes but felt like mere seconds. When Magusa realized her team had probably been waiting on her a good while, she reluctantly pulled back.

"I'll see you again, right?"

Hari put on his most winning smile. "Definitely."

Before he could do anything else, she reached up, putting both hands behind his head, and pulled him down for a kiss on the lips. She didn't care that he still had his thin cloth mask on, only that she express what she was currently feeling for him. Before he could realize what she had just done, she let go and leapt into the nearby trees.

Hari stood there for almost a minute, shocked by what had just happened. Then, he reached up and touched his lips through the mask. With an enormous grin and tears streaming down his cheeks, he turned and headed back toward the central part of the village.

Taru approached the Hokage Tower with an apprehensive expression. Her sensei had taken her aside the day before and told her to meet him in the lobby this morning and forego their usual meeting grounds.

This was extremely unusual for sensei and that meant one thing…

He was up to something.

Thus, she was rather anxious to find out what he had planned.

She entered the lobby and looked around. To her surprise, Konohamaru-sensei wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead, she blushed when she caught sight of Nara Rokudenashi.

He almost immediately made eye contact with her, as if he had been watching the entrance. With a slight blush and smile, he waved her over. She walked over with a confused, but happy, look on her face.

"Have you seen Konohamaru-sensei?" she asked when she got close.

Rokuden shook his head. "He'll come by with the rest of your team for another mission soon."

Taru was baffled. "Then, why didn't he have me meet them there like usual?"

The Nara gave her another slight smile. "Because I requested he not."

It took her a second to register what that meant. "Then, YOU were the one that I was supposed to meet here."

He nodded. "I was." He paused as the two of them stared into each other's eyes. "It was troublesome, but I requested we be allowed to take a mission together today. It may not be as good as cloud-watching, but it's probably as close as we're going to get for a while. Hope you don't mind."

Taru's enormous blush was all the answer he needed. He started walking toward the mission room. "We should probably get started then."

With a grin, Taru jogged forward the catch up to him and slipped her arm around his. They both blushed brightly, but continued moving. This was going to be a good day.

The Otokage sat on his throne with his elbow on the armrest and fist supporting his head, a couple of books open on his lap. This type of research really wasn't for him. Tsunade was a better candidate for this type of thing. He had always focused more on quick, first-aid type healing and the way medical jutsu could be used to damage the body rather than heal it. He had never bothered studying up in an attempt to get a more successful operation. He had never had a reason to.

This time, he did.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by one of his jounin opening the door. "Otokage-sama, you have a visitor."

That was interesting. He wasn't expecting anyone. The only reason they would be allowed through was if they had proven their loyalty to him. The Otokage sat up straighter, setting his books aside.

"Let him in."

The jounin stepped out and returned about half a minute later, holding the door opened for the guest.

To the other man's surprise, in stepped Bangai Hason, his two arms wrapped in rudimentary bandages and held stiff at his side. His chest was also wrapped but seemed to have more movement than the other parts. Hason immediately bowed, his weak arms nearly touching the ground with the action.

"Otokage-sama."

The older man stared at him, letting him sweat under the gaze. After a couple minutes, he finally spoke.

"Your attack on Konoha was impressive for being carried out by only four shinobi."

He caught the relieved sigh that the young man let out. "Thank you, Otokage-sama."

The older man continued on in a light-hearted tone. "Impressive, but stupid." He paused to smirk while the teen tensed again. "Now, Konoha will be even more alert for similar invasions in the near future. I'll have to push back the invasion I had planned for next year. That does not make me happy." He turned cold eyes on Hason, who was quite clearly sweating under the pressure. "So, tell me, why shouldn't I just kill you right now?"

Hason's eyes widened, and he took an involuntary step back. He quickly collected himself and looked calmly at the floor in front of the stone. "I have information."

The Otokage leaned forward a bit, feigning interest. "Regarding?"

"You were searching the youngsters of the villages for appropriate vessels. I have gathered intel on the newest set of genin in Konoha."

The more powerful shinobi chuckled softly, leaning back. "I already know everything there is about them. If there was anything to truly interest me, I would have already taken it. I really hope that wasn't all you had, or you may as well say goodbye to this world."

Hason stared at him, mouth agape. "Did you really think I wouldn't look into every possible candidate? I even considered using that luck manipulating boy, but his power is a bit too random for my liking." He paused to give the young ninja a piercing gaze. "Now, I ask again, is that all you had for me?"

Hason quickly collected himself. "I do have one more thing." He looked toward the door. "Ryoushi!"

Not a second later, another man walked through the doorway, this one with the feel of a hunter about him. Behind him stood a woman, beautiful and clearly a kunoichi, but with nothing otherwise noteworthy for a kage level ninja. The jounin at the door, however, just stared in shock as the woman waved light-heartedly at him.

"I have two new shinobi to serve you. I saved them from their confines in Konoha and, in return, they have pledged their service to you." The two bowed to the Otokage as Hason introduced them. "Houlan Ryoushi, formerly of the Hidden Stone, and Kanaki Ibiru, formerly of the Hidden Grass."

The Otokage appraised them for a moment before smiling. "Good. Now, is that all?" When Hason nodded, the kage level shinobi motioned at the jounin at the door. "Take him outside and kill him. I don't want his blood ruining the floor of my chamber."

Hason was so stunned, he could only gawk at the man. The jounin quickly did as told, pulling the unresponsive Hason out bodily. The Otokage then turned toward his other two visitors, hardly caring that they had managed to approach the room without the jounin at the door noticing. "The two of you will start service for this village immediately. The jounin outside will give you directions on where to go to get your hitai-ates and your first mission. Dismissed."

As the pair bowed and walked out, the Otokage went back to his medical journals and books. He couldn't worry about men like them. They were much too weak to care about. He had other things that deserved his attention. These books for example.

After all, if he could perform this surgery successfully, he would earn the loyalty of two powerful shinobi.

Hotaru walked through the town, observing the repairs going on around her. It had been three weeks since the end of the chuunin exams, and the village was just starting to return to its former glory. That morning had been her first one off since then, and it had been immensely relaxing.

Unfortunately, she only had a few hours before she had to meet with the Hokage, a meeting constantly lingering in the back of her mind and preventing her from completely relaxing. She was on her way to the Hokage's office now, almost half an hour early, in an attempt to get it out of the way.

As she approached the Hokage Tower, she noted that the extensive damage that had been dealt to it during the Four Man Invasion, as it was coming to be known throughout the village, was mostly repaired; the only remaining evidence was a few small holes in the ground around the base of the tower.

As she entered the building, she was waved on by the chuunin guards at the entrance. Before she knew it, she had reached the hall outside the Hokage's office and taken a seat to wait anxiously for her meeting to start. Looking at the clock on the wall, she still had almost twenty-five minutes to wait. She let out an impatient sigh and settled in.

About fifteen minutes later, she was joined by another of the rookie genin, Katame, from team Shino. The girl was as silent as usual, sitting down across from her without a word.

Not five minutes later, the pair were finally invited in, causing Hotaru's pulse to increase even more. For the Hokage to call her and Katame to her office while reconstruction was still going on could only mean one thing…

The two stopped side-by-side in front of their Hokage. Behind them, two chuunin stood at attention.

Tsunade stared at them for a moment before speaking. "Allow me to be the first to congratulate you, Tsukino Hotaru and Rokotsu Katame, on making the rank of chuunin of the Hidden Leaf Village. Well done."

Hotaru was speechless as the two chuunin behind them picked up vests from the wall behind them and walked so that they were facing the new chuunin. With grins, they handed the vests to the younger kunoichi. "Congratulations." Grins still on their faces, the two elder chuunin walked back behind the two girls to stand there proudly.

Before Hotaru could recover enough to say anything, Katame, ever composed, asked the question that the other girl had been wondering. "Out of curiosity, Hokage-sama, what made you feel we are ready for promotion?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You don't feel you're ready to be chuunin?"

Katame shook her head. "I did not say that."

"You, Katame-san, showed impressive strategic thinking, using your techniques to their maximum capabilities while always keeping your foe on the defensive, even if he was a stronger ninja. You were always a couple steps ahead of him, a trait that is very useful in a chuunin. Clearly, you have the maturity and mind of a chuunin." She let a small smirk cross her face. "Your abilities aren't bad either."

Then, The Hokage turned her serious face on Hotaru, who fidgeted nervously. "Hotaru-san, you displayed remarkable improvement over the last month. With that improvement, you showed that you can adapt to the situation as necessary." She paused to put on a soft smile. "You just needed a small push." She continued, becoming serious once more. "Your combat abilities show promise, and you've displayed good tactical skills as well, countering many of Souran-san's moves and changing tactics when you became poisoned. Your well-rounded abilities caught my attention, as well as the other chuunin exam judges."

She smiled at the two of them. "You deserve this promotion."

Hotaru finally managed to find her tongue. "Arigatou, Hokage-sama," she muttered softly, almost too quiet to be heard.

The Godaime ignored the statement, trying not to seem too soft in front of her new chuunin. Instead, she turned her attention back to Katame. "Any other questions?"

The blue haired girl nodded. "Did anyone from the other villages get promoted?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow again. "I can't tell you for sure, but I can say who I recommended be promoted." Katame nodded her acceptance of that. "The only other ninja the judges and I thought worthy of promotion was Souran of Suna. He had two impressive victories that showed his ability to use complex strategies to a remarkable extent. His combat skills were incredible as well. All in all, I would say he was of chuunin quality. Anything else?"

Katame shook her head.

"Good. Again, congratulations." She couldn't help a dark smirk. "But that's not getting you out of repair duty. Back to work, both of you."

The two new chuunin hustled out, the elder chuunin following them.

Tsunade sighed, glaring at the paperwork that only seemed to grow since the Four Man Invasion. Sometimes, she hated her job.

She pulled out a bottle of sake in an effort to make it a little more bearable.

Hinashin walked into the Hokage Tower with her team to get their mission for the day when, suddenly, she stopped. She stared at two people, younger than her, as they walked out of the stairwell. Her teammates stopped walking a moment later and looked at her curiously. Koukatsu stepped up beside her and punched her lightly on the arm.

"What's wrong, Hinashin-chan?"

"Oh no." Rokuden's groan pulled the attention of Koukatsu and Tenten away from their other teammate. The Nara had a hand covering his face. "This is going to be SO troublesome." Without another word, he pointed to the two people Hinashin was watching.

The pair's eyes widened at the same time.

"Oh-" started Tenten.

"Crap," finished Koukatsu.

The girl was staring at Hotaru and Katame as they walked out of the tower, wearing pristine new chuunin vests. When they finally walked out of the building, the team turned back to look at Hinashin. She was drumming her fingers together in front of her with eyes full of just a single thing: mischief.

Tenten sighed, knowing that there was no chance of getting this new idea of hers out of her head; she had too much Naruto in her blood for that. "Send a Shadow Clone with us, and you can do whatever prank you have planned for them at your whim."

"Yatta!" Without another second, she had created a Shadow Clone with a puff of smoke and vanished.

Rokuden shook his head. "As long as we don't have to deal with her until after she's gotten her revenge out of her system…so troublesome."

The morning after giving the new chuunin the information about their promotion, Shizune was going through her normal morning routine and was in the middle of cooking breakfast when she heard a scream. She immediately darted out of the kitchen, barely taking the time to turn off the stove before running through the house she shared with Tsunade-sama. She came around the corner, opening the bathroom door, already speaking.

"What's wrong, Tsunade-sama? What's going on?"

The woman was stunned by the sight that met her.

Tsunade stood there in front of the mirror in her bath robe glaring at Shizune, everything normal, except that her hair was a very distinguished gray. It was a sight that forced the young jounin to resist the urge to laugh out loud or risk her Hokage's wrath.

But Tsunade could still tell that she was amused by what she saw. The Godaime growled, turning back to the mirror with the scowl.

Attempting to make amends, Shizune asked a question. "Did you try your genjutsu?"

That only made Tsunade growl even louder. "This IS the genjutsu! Something in that new shampoo you got me must have done this! Now, fix it!"

Brought up short by the accusation, Shizune gave her a confused look. "Erm…Tsunade-sama, I didn't get you any new shampoo."

"What! Then, who-" she cut herself off, eyes widened. "Hinashin!"

Shizune tilted her head slightly. "Wouldn't Naruto be a more likely candidate?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Hinashin had a reason. I didn't promote her to chuunin…And the little genius even managed to find a way to get around my genjutsu…"

Shizune didn't know what to say to that. She only hoped the young Uzumaki knew what she was getting into. Tsunade turned to move back to the shower, tossing the new shampoo to Shizune once she got there.

"Get rid of this for me. Let's see if I can get this out of my hair."

A few hours later, the Hokage would go to work late and in a very bad mood. Meanwhile, those around her would snicker at her new look.

"Katame."

The girl turned around to face a man with icy blue hair of a shade similar to her own. He was thin and clearly not a shinobi, but she gazed at him with respect.

"Hai, Tou-san?" (Yes, Father?)

His face showed only a little more emotion than Katame's giving away his irritation. "I believe a friend of yours left us a gift overnight."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Without a word, the elder Rokotsu motioned for her to follow him. He led her out of their house and into the clothing store that they owned out front. He led her all the way through the store to the front of the building. Then, he pointed back above the entrance. Katame stared at a message she had never thought she would see on her parents clothing store.

New Limited Edition Icha Icha Bra and Panties in Stock Now!

Katame could certainly see why her father would be irritated by this. It would lead to a vastly different reputation than he wanted. Glancing around, she noted how the few people around were all sending curious glances their direction.

The young chuunin turned back to her father. "I'll take care of it before I leave to meet my team."

"Good," he said, relaxing significantly. "I'll leave you to that then."

"This is unusual," commented Hitayio as lightly as he could. Even then his slight tension shown through. He, Rei, and Kiba-sensei, along with Masaru and Akamaru, were all standing at their training ground, waiting for Hotaru to show up.

It had been twenty minutes since they were supposed to meet.

Hotaru was _never_ late. This was a very worrying situation.

"I'm sure she's just been held up by her parents," stated Rei unconvincingly.

Kiba just shook his head. "We'll give her another ten minutes until we go out and look for her."

It was five tense minutes later that Hitayio saw Rei and Masaru perk up. Clearly, they had heard something. A second later, the male genin saw his sensei and Akamaru turn toward the village, noses working rapidly. When he saw them all smile, he knew it was Hotaru and couldn't help but smile himself.

When the girl finally landed in the clearing, all three humans' eyes widened.

The girl was wearing a chuunin vest, which was astonishing enough, but she was also wearing a black dress that exposed a generous amount of her modest cleavage and a large portion of her smooth legs.

Hitayio had to resist the urge to laugh.

That explained why she was late.

When Hotaru saw the looks her companions were giving her, she looked down at the ground in shame. She muttered something under her breath.

"Someone replaced your normal clothes with revealing clothing?" asked Rei, snorting as she tried to hold back her laughter.

That only caused Hitayio and Kiba to burst out in laughter, Rei joining them a moment later. Hotaru's cheeks colored bright red in embarrassment.

Kiba was the first to get himself under control. "Sorry, Hotaru-chan, but you must admit, this is pretty funny." She just gave him a glare. He quickly waved his hands in front of him. "Okay, okay, not funny."

"But who would do this!" demanded Hotaru desperately.

Kiba grinned. "Probably Naruto's daughter, Hinashin. She got his pranking genes and is probably a little irritated that you got promoted and she didn't, even though she won the tournament."

Hotaru just let out a resigned groan.

Kiba walked over and patted her on the shoulder. "We'll go over to ask about it after our mission today." That just seemed to defeat the girl even more.

With a grin on his face, Hitayio started leading the group toward the Hokage Tower. He would have his work cut out for him today, trying to resist staring at the attractive girl. At least she would be distracted trying to keep everyone else from looking at her.

Taka stood alongside her two teammates with Shino in front of them. Katame was wearing her chuunin vest, showing her new rank. Taka was a little annoyed by that, but she guessed that it was her right. She had done well to earn it.

"Now that you have experienced the truth of the shinobi life, tell me your thoughts," commanded Shino monotonously. They had finally been given a small break from repairs, so he was using it to teach his team, letting their bodies rest some.

Katame was the first to respond. "It is a tough world, full of unpredictability. Attacks could happen at any time, and for that reason, you must constantly be on guard."

Taka scratched the top of her head before continuing the explanation in her own words. "I'd say we're lucky that there isn't a war going on now, because there's no way we could fight against some of those ninja out there."

"Yeah, we need to gain a lot more strength if we want to stay alive," finished Hari. They had been trapped in the infirmary, so they hadn't seen any of it, but just hearing about how only four people had done so much damage to the village had hit them pretty hard.

Taka couldn't be sure, but she thought she caught a pleased look on her teacher's face. "Good. The other sensei and I have decided to up your training until all of you reach jounin rank."

"Which sensei?" interrupted Taka.

"The genin teams, as well as the teams of Tenten and Rock Lee. Given how busy we will all be, there will be one jounin to train a set of teams every day there is the chance. This will allow you to become more comfortable with your fellow Leaf nin and learn from a more diverse group of teachers. We've all agreed to make the training rigorous. The team from Suna will also join you any time they are in the area. Do you all agree to this?"

"Hai!"

Taka couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. This was going to be fun.

The first thing he felt as he returned to consciousness was complete numbness all across his body. He could sense vague movements over his upper body, but he wasn't quite aware enough to be able to figure out what was going on. A second later, he heard voices begin speaking.

"Did it work?" That first voice sounded familiar to the weak man.

Even being only vaguely aware, he could hear the second man's sneer. "Of course it did."

"How long til he's awake?"

"Give him a few minutes."

The weak man stirred slightly, trying to show them that he was already awake.

This brought a gasp from the first voice. "He's really back! He's _finally_ back!"

The man forced his eyes opened and winced at the intake of light. When it cleared some, he could see two forms standing over him. One leaned down, a clear grin on his face.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Kuroji."

((Alright! Done with pre-time skip with a chapter of almost 6k words! Hopefully, this satisfies you for a while because I'm going to need a while to plan out, in more detail, the next part of the story. I don't know whether I'll resume posting again before I go back to college, but I'll be working on it regularly. Seems like you readers like the couples that I've already set up, so I'll continue to use them. I've got a couple others in mind, but we'll see how things pan out.

The character bios will be posted next week as an update.

Thanks for everything!

SSF))


	50. Character List

((Okay, so this will probably be the last thing I post for a while. Again, I do apologize, but I want to make sure I have an actual plan before I continue. Hopefully, I'll resume posting before the end of the summer, but I don't know. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and to anyone who thinks this is a chapter (even though you're probably not reading this). Thanks to all those who reviewed. They really kept me writing at a steady pace.))

**Character List**

Koudoukou Taka-

Appearance: female; red, shoulder-length hair; hitai-ate on shoulder; white shirt and black pants; brown eyes

Personality: loud but respectful; determined; used to be depressed at home but tries to hide it in front of the rest of her friends, though this has changed; generally fairly social

Bio: lost both parents; lives with aunt, uncle, and cousin, w/ aunt hating her for being heir over her cousin, her uncle simply ignoring her, and her cousin too afraid to do anything about it; this changed when Hato finally stood up to his mother for Taka, causing her uncle to take notice of her but her aunt to only despise her more (although privately now)

Skills: The Zodiac Jutsu

Jutsu: Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rabbit of the Zodiac Jutsu), Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu (Snake of the Zodiac Jutsu), Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu), Ondori Isshiki no Jutsu (Rooster of the Zodiac Jutsu), Yamazaru Isshiki no Jutsu (Monkey of the Zodiac Jutsu), Guntaishiki Isshiki no Jutsu (Complete Zodiac Jutsu)

Rokotsu Katame- (From my Beta)

Appearance: female; icy blue hair pulled back into a short ponytail with two lengths of bangs resting at the corner of her light purple eyes, reaching down to the center of her cheeks; black gi with fishnet shirt underneath and red sash with matching wakizashi attached; several complex tattoos run up her right arm, flowing through multiple hues as they climb upward; headband on head with a white wrapping

Personality: not very open, slightly above Shino in terms of conversation; almost 'emotionless'; extremely loyal to friends; does smirk occasionally

Bio: Her clan is a well off merchant family, selling clothes; Enrolled in the Academy because she wanted to; since entering, has researched chakra theories and various genjutsu and ninjutsu theories

Skills: genjutsu/ninjutsu combos; strategy

Jutsu: Kage Moudou no Jutsu (Shadow Blindness Jutsu), Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surrounding Jutsu), Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu), Magen: Jigoku Koka no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Jutsu), Magen: Niju Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Double False Surrounding Jutsu), Suzu: Kiri (Sakura Petal Clone), Doton: Joro Senbon (Earth Release: Sprinkling Needles)

Kuwashii Hari- (From my brother)

Appearance: male; spiky green hair with a red mask covering his mouth and nose; wears a brown shirt with a spiked pad on his left shoulder; has a black cloth belt with his shuriken holster attached above brown pants; hitai-ate around forehead

Personality: pervert; can be somewhat goofy around friends, more serious around others; very good with traps; dislikes people who are late

Bio: father is a chuunin, mother a civilian.

Skills: favors taijutsu and traps

Jutsu: Raiton: Denryuu no Jutsu (Lightning Style: Electric Current Jutsu), Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu)

Kihou Sokudo-

Appearance: male; soft blue, shoulder-length hair; black wool clothes; hitai-ate on forehead; aqua eyes

Personality: Uses venomous sarcasm when annoyed; basic young boy; highly competitive; annoyed by most women, especially those without much clothing; sees Taka as a rival

Skills: speed; Kirigakure no Jutsu; some genjutsu and gravity based sword jutsu

Bio: father is a member of Seven Swords w/ high expectations; mother is dead from assassins

Jutsu: Kirigakure no Jutsu (thicker than usual), Ninpou: Ittoukage no Jutsu (Secret Art: Shadow Sword Jutsu),

Jinsoku Subaya(sensei)-

Appearance: male; bald head and wrinkled face; black cloak held on by hitai-ate around his waist; black ninja garb underneath with belt and sword sheath; short steel sword

Personality: Sensible and wise; kind to friends; honorable in battle with a few tricks

Skills: swordsmanship w/gravity based jutsu

Bio: former member of the Seven Swords: Sokudo's grandfather

Jutsu: Ninpou: Ittoukage no Jutsu (Secret Art: Shadow Sword Jutsu), Ninpou: Kuroken no Jutsu (Secret Art: Dark Blade Jutsu),

Sakana Magusa-

Appearance: female; purple eyes; somewhat pale; small blue tank top w/ matching short blue pants; headband around her neck; smooth, shoulder-length blond hair

Personality: seductive because she is uncomfortable; worries a lot; talkative; attaches herself to something in unknown areas to make herself feel more comfortable; works w/Toukan in battle

Skills: water ninjutsu

Bio: lives w/parents; has a dog named Spike; has been generally disregarded by Kirigakure for her lack of viciousness

Jutsu-Suiton: Mizutama no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu), Suiton: Kousen no Jutsu (Water Style: Underground Spring Jutsu), Suiton: Gyoushuku no Jutsu (Water Style: Condensation Jutsu)

Manriki Toukan-

Appearance: male; smooth, girl-like skin and black hair down to the center of his back; loose white t-shirt and light blue pants w/white wrapped hitai-ate on his forehead; very feminine

Personality: cold and emotionless, though he enjoys putting others through pain; no real connection to his teammates other than that he requires them to be effective

Skills: ice ninjutsu (often works together w/Magusa)

Bio: killed his own parents as a child, putting them through a couple of torture tests (they weren't shinobi); attempted to kill others in his class multiple times and was only stopped by the teachers

Jutsu-Suiton: Etigyou no Jutsu (Water Style: Liquid Freeze Jutsu), Suiton: Hisankakusui no Jutsu (Water Style: Ice Pyramid Jutsu), Suiton: Reika no Jutsu (Water Style: Subzero Jutsu), Suiton: Aisutate no Jutsu (Water Style: Ice Shield Jutsu), Suiton: Touhitoya no Jutsu (Water Style: Ice Prison Jutsu) Suiton: Supaiku Koori no Jutsu (Water Release: Ice Spike Jutsu), Suiton: Supaiku Gajidai no Jutsu (Water Release: Glacial Spike Jutsu)

Ryoushi-

Appearance: male; fur clothing; Brown hair held back in a ponytail; Bow strapped to his back with a quiver of arrows on his belt; Wears a slashed Stone hitai-ate on forehead

Personality: Hunter type qualities; often a loner; Has developed a slight connection to his fellow two missing nin; one of which is already dead; Very straightforward; Likes a challenge; Is impatient but tends to avoid violence at the beginning, after his imprisonment, he tends to lean towards it.

Skills: bow and arrow ninjutsu with some tracking jutsu

Bio: unknown

Jutsu- implants jutsu into his arrows so that it only takes a thought or touch to activate them, including electricity and nets.

Kinome-

Appearance: male; light green clothing; Short brown hair with matching trim beard on a gruff face; Wields a wooden staff made by his jutsu out of a tree; Wears his mother's slashed Kumo hitai-ate around his shoulder as a memento

Personality: Loved sunlight; Loved Ibiru; Considered Ryoushi a good friend; Very down-to-earth; Good at making observations; Laid back; Tries to play to his strengths as much as possibl

Skills: staff taijutsu with a lot of plant ninjutsu.

Bio: unknown other than that he is now dead.

Jutsu- Doton: Koujouvison no Jutsu (Earth Release: Plant Vision Jutsu), seal-less plant growth/jutsu, Doton: Tossakasei no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Instant Growth Jutsu), Buinki no Jutsu (Staff Treant Jutsu)

Ibiru-

Appearance: female; Typical green ninja vest and chain shirt; Black hair pulled back in a ponytail rather tanned skin over her slashed Grass hitai-ate; Half-burned body, including face (left side)

Personality: Loved Kinome but wasn't necessarily faithful to him; Considered Ryoushi a possible bed-mate; Loved to have fun; Enjoys waiting until nightfall to strike; Very overbearing; Loves to tease; Impatient; Easily angered, especially if something doesn't go her way; Dislikes not knowing what's going on

Skills: uses poisoned senbon and kunai.

Bio: unknown

Jutsu:

Kadai Sutamina-

Appearance: male; white shirt and light blue pants; Short-cropped brown hair; Very short with a baby face; Looks very child-like; Bag of sunflower seeds on his belt instead of shuriken holster; Cloud hitai-ate around his forehead

Personality: Very energetic and child-like; Attaches to anyone that is kind to him; Views nearly everyone as a possible friend; Sees his teammates as a brother and sister; Always cheerful; Confident, almost overly so; Tends to be optimistic

Skills: plant ninjutsu, usually involving the seeds on his belt.

Bio: lives with his clan in Kumogakure.

Jutsu: Tane Renda no Jutsu (Seed Barrage Jutsu), seed shuriken

Bijuaru Sakkaku-

Appearance: female; lanky and tall with a bony complexion; Purple hair held back by her Kumo hitai-ate down to her mid-back; Purple shirt and black pants with typical ninja gear aside from that

Personality: Overly loud, accustomed to being ignored at home; Overprotective of Suta and a mild crush on Uppun; Tries to hold off on her judgment of others until she has spent time with the person herself; Has a rather realistic outlook, as long as it doesn't include anyone important to her

Bio: parents ignore her in favor of their three more civilian children, acting like she doesn't exist because they dislike ninja, seeing them as mercenaries

Skills: Mind Affecting Jutsu

Jutsu: Konshasu Gachin no Jutsu (Conscious Clash Jutsu)

Teisuu Uppun-

Appearance: male; black hair held back in a ponytail; Handsome features; Kumo hitai-ate on forehead; Gray shirt and pants

Personality: Despises all things not from Kumo; Holds a deep resentment for foreigners, especially ninja; is slightly emotionally disturbed; Otherwise, is kind and gentle with his teammates, though in a mildly cold way; Tends to be pessimistic; Has a strong sense of honor but only when it comes to other Kumo citizens

Bio: Raised by his aunt most of his life. His parents were assassinated the year he entered the academy.

Skills: mild genjutsu to get to his stronger grappling tai/ninjutsu.

Jutsu: a nameless genjutsu that makes its target see him in the position he was in when he activated it while he moves around freely.

Skills: grappling with slight genjutsu

Jutsu:

Fubuki Arechi(sensei)-

Appearance: male;

Personality: Calm and efficient; Usually withholds as much info as possible; Holds his emotions inside of him; Tends to let his emotions define how training sessions go

Bio: unknown

Skills: unknown

Jutsu:

Bangai Hason-

Appearance: male; keeps his Sound hitai-ate (not even bothering with a Mist one) in a pocket until he gets serious, at which point he puts it on his forehead; Black pants and vest with a net shirt underneath; Black hair down to his mid-back; Slightly feminine features

Personality: Arrogant; Kind in a weird way; Merciful; Patient; Blindly devoted to Kabuto's cause

Bio: was abandoned by his parents, who couldn't afford to have a child and didn't have an orphanage to take him to. He was found by a Sound agent and brought up in the village. The Otokage took an interest in him at a young age, assisting in his growth to an extent. It was the only acceptance he had ever felt.

Skills: sealing and genjutsu with slight tai and ninjutsu

Jutsu: Suiton: Issui Eiei no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Pulling Jutsu), Hibiki Myaku no Jutsu (Sound Pulse Jutsu)

Onkyou Nami-

Appearance: female; purple hair down to her mid-back held back by her Mist hitai-ate (which she replaces when she fights Sasuke); Black blouse with net undershirt and tight black pants, emphasizing her strong leg muscles; Very attractive

Personality: Arrogant; Bossy; Self-centered; Devoted to the Otokage

Bio: She was abducted by Sound (though she didn't know this) and was an experiment in a new form of mind altering to make her completely loyal to the Otokage. It was only a mild success, but she still held him in high regard

Skills: subtle genjutsu, dance/music ninjutsu and taijutsu

Jutsu: Gufuu Nenten no Jutsu (Twisting Tornado Technique), Futon: Tamaoshi no Jutsu (Wind Release: Pressure Bullet Jutsu), Futon: Sora Tsuiraku no Jutsu. (Wind Release: Falling Sky Jutsu), Suiton: Gogyoukizu no Jutsu (Water Release: Cutting Water Jutsu), Fuuton: Kazehitofuki no jutsu. (Wind Release: Gust of Wind Technique)

Hou Chiku-

Appearance: male; dark maroon hair pulled back in a short ponytail; Mist hitai-ate (which he replaces for his Sakura fight) around his forehead; Thin black clothing over most of his body, hands and feet included with gloves and shoes (only his handsome face shows); Sword sheath on his belt

Personality: Quiet and reserved; Likes learning; Confident, perhaps overly so; Devoted to Kabuto

Bio: Was also abducted and experimented on, same as Nami. However, when he showed promise in swordsmanship, he was taken under the wing of one of the stronger swordsman of Oto and taught the techniques of the style.

Skills: sword ninjutsu (mostly to do with sound)

Jutsu:

Zakyou/Kataki-

Appearance: Sound sensei, male; heavy clothing.

Personality: Enjoys teasing; Multiple personalities

Bio: Unknown

Skills: sticky unbreakable string fibers

Jutsu:

Seidou Taru-(from Yuri Toshito)  
Appearance: female; 13; normal clothes; medium-length golden blond hair; gentle girly appearance; carries a small gold heart-shaped locket with a picture of her parents in it; has a tiger (was a cub when she came to the village)  
Personality: kind hearted; REALLY LAZY; skilled fighter when needs to be  
Bio: parents were assassinated when young so hardly remembers them, came to village at about four.  
Skills: taijutsu (with credible skills in other areas), kekkei genkai: has same relationship with felines as kibas family does with canines

Jutsu: Shikyaku no Jutsu (Beast Mimicry: All Fours Jutsu), Jujin Bunshin (Man-Beast Clone), Dyutora no Jutsu!" (Dual Tiger Jutsu)

Rei Felina-(From mintmelodygirl)  
Appearance: female; 13; 5'9"; flat black nin sandles; long black pants; short sleeve netting shirt with a bandana covering the chest with forehead protector on the front of chest; brown hair; she has slit pupil eyes that are yellow; always wears red mitalic sunshades  
Personality: she likes to gloat when facing a one on one battle; she's also very catty in thinking; she can be very lazy; afraid of deep water; 'stalks' enemies  
Bio: Clan almost wiped out in Grass (only father and sister are left). During the attack, Rei was saved by the two tailed cat demon container; moved to Konoha for safety  
Skills: taijutsu incorporating her claws;

Jutsu: Neko Tsume Ninpou (Ninja Art: Cat Claws)

Hah-kah Hitayio-(From Mushu the Assassin)  
Appearance: male; 12; red hair with hints of black at the bangs going down to his waist; black shirt with a red wing design on the back and dark red capri's; sword on back that looks like a red, giant hawk's wing; born December 17th. 7:00 AM  
Personality: Humorous; sarcastic; damageable self-esteem; coconuts (Insane in a few aspects; such as attacking anybody who says the word 'crons')

Bio: born Dec. 17th, 7 AM; is an illegitimate child; never really fit in with anyone and got picked on by the other shinobi trainees.

Skills: taijutsu and ninjutsu

Jutsu: Suiton: Unabara no Jutsu (Water style: The Deep), Dendouinin no Jutsu (Electric Charge Jutsu)

Tsukino Hotaru-(From Crimson Zephyr)  
Appearance: female; 12; bright pink eyes; long light purple hair tied back in a braid; wears a red tanktop with long fishnet sleeves and a silver crescent moon on the back, a pair of black knee-length pants, a pair of leather sandals, a studded leather choker, and a katana strapped on her back  
Personality: very stubborn, can be a little insecure, cautious around new people, has trouble expressing her true feelings; calculating when fighting; mostly use kekkei-genkai and genjutsu w/ some elemental attacks  
Bio: was born in Lightning Country; moved to Konoha at age 4 with parents; at age seven, her parents both died while on a mission and was sent to live at an orphanage; four years later, after becoming an official Konoha nin, she left the orphanage and has been on her own ever since.  
Skills: her kekkei genkai and adapting her abilities to fit the situation  
Jutsu: Yuureijingan (roughly: Eyes of Ghostly Population), Seireigyo no Jutsu (Spirit Control Jutsu), Seireishiryoku no Jutsu (Spirit Sight Jutsu)

Tenshou Kizui (From Rinfanalltheway)  
Appearance: male; 13; moderately tall for his age and has a lanky nature, giving him the overall aura of that clumsy kid everyone has in their class; snow-white hair falls to his shoulders in the back while hiding most of his bright yellow eyes with his bangs; wears baggy cargo shorts supported by a belt lined with kunai and a baggy vest like thing over his chest to allow more storage for his weaponry; headband is worn around his neck with a yellow band  
Personality: reckless; immature; a happy-go-lucky kinda person; though his level of dedication to his friends and family is to the point of paranoid; His love is without bounds and often jumps too soon into trust  
Bio: Kizui is, simply put, a careless youth. He goofed off throughout his years in the academy with a smile on his lips. He put forth the bare minimum of effort in training and missions, until his father was killed on a mission on the border of the grass and rain countries a year or two before his son became a genin. Kizui still maintains his happy attitude and carefree nature, but has pushed himself to near death in his training in recent years to make sure he'd never have to see his mother cry for a lost one again. He holds a slight grudge against the Rain shinobi for whom his father died trying to stop an outbreak of civil war, but his only true hatred is for those among the grass shinobi who stood by and watched it all happen without a care in the world. He now carries with him a senbon umbrella that his father's 'murderer' sent as an apology to the family; he has since upgraded the weapon with a sturdier form by lining it with heavy steel and iron.  
Skills: Projectile/Short staff styled taijutsu, light practice in lightning ninjutsu  
Jutsu: Bloodline: Sunbyou Kizui (a moment of good fortune), Onnifujiyuu no jutsu (roughly translates to a man who never gets a woman)

Emerarudo Tounyo-

Appearance: male; short blond hair; Mature looking face; Konoha hitai-ate around forehead; Calm teal eyes; loose blue sweatpants and shirt; Single kunai holster on his belt

Personality: A personality like mine, essentially; Very realistic and down to earth

Bio: mother that's a ninja, who taught him most of what he knows. Father is a merchant, who is often out of town.

Skills: analysis, his taijutsu style, medical jutsu

Jutsu: a blood clotting jutsu, pumps chakra through his entire body while setting his feet in order to amplify and use every muscle in his body for each punch, fighting stance- his right hand in a fist near his stomach and his left out in front of him with fingers spread with widened legs so that his body is centered

Koudoukou Hato-

Appearance: male; short red hair; teal eyes; pale skin; loose, light brown clothing

Personality: Kind to a fault; has issues standing up for himself, although that has improved; loves Taka like a sister; takes most things seriously; tolerates his exotic team with surprising patience; can't stand an opponent holding back in a fight

Bio: born a year before Taka; brought up being taught by his mother that he was supposed to be clan heir, but his father never told him that, so he never truly believed it. He soon realized his mother was very prejudiced and that his father was probably a better role-model.

Skills: The Zodiac Jutsu

Jutsu: Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rabbit of the Zodiac Jutsu), Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu (Snake of the Zodiac Jutsu), Nezumi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rat of the Zodiac Jutsu), Ondori Isshiki no Jutsu (Rooster of the Zodiac Jutsu), Yamazaru Isshiki no Jutsu (Monkey of the Zodiac Jutsu), Guntaishiki Isshiki no Jutsu (Complete Zodiac Jutsu)

Jakay Shan-

Appearance: female; Black bowl cut hair, though that changes to medium length black hair after time skip; Big black eyebrows; Green spandex with Konoha hitai-ate belt and orange leg-warmers; (may be changed after time skip)

Personality: very energetic; trains all the time to the point of exhaustion; sees Lee as her idol; makes exclamations about 'youth' all the time.

Bio: born to a construction worker and his wife. She entered the academy because she felt a draw to the position. She struggled with ninjutsu and genjutsu in the academy but was excellent at taijutsu, nearly matching even the strongest clan heirs in her grade.

Skills: mostly taijutsu with a small bit of nin/genjutsu training

Jutsu: Goken (Strong Fist), Omote Renge (Initial Lotus)

Hyuuga Nebin-

Appearance: male; Feminine body; Long, straight brown hair; White robes of the Hyuuga clan with black shorts covering up the bottom half; Hitai-ate around his forehead in honor of older branch members with the Caged Bird symbol

Personality: serious, often cold; holds high respect for Hinata; not quite the same level of genius as Neji but close; tolerates his teammates and teacher

Bio: Born to Neji and Tenten. Attended the Academy at the expectations of his father

Skills: Taijutsu with his kekkei genkai

Jutsu: Byakugan, Jyuuken, Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms), Kaiten

Hyuuga Hinashin-

Appearance: female; Blond hair down to base of neck with two strands hanging down to her chest; Konoha hitai ate around neck; White Hyuuga robes

Personality: energetic; enjoys pranks; takes a lot after her father, although with a little influence from her mother

Bio: Born to Naruto and Hinata. Went to the academy in order to match her father's dream (and her dream) of becoming Hokage

Skills: taijutsu with decent ninjutsu skill

Jutsu: Byakugan, Jyuuken, 'Naruto style', Kaiten, Hiramekasu no Jutsu (Flash Jutsu), Orioke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu),

Uchiha Koukatsu-

Appearance: male; Spiky black hair; Konoha hitai-ate on forehead; Uchiha symbol on black shirt with black shorts

Personality: somewhat quiet; arrogant; tends to only let his negative emotions through; trains in his free time

Bio: Born to Sasuke and Sakura. Became a ninja to live up to his father's expectations.

Skills: good with taijutsu 'form', fire ninjutsu, and some genjutsu involving his kekkei genkai.

Jutsu: Sharingan, Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall),

Nara Rokudenashi-

Appearance: male; Black hair tied in a ponytail; Konoha hitai-ate around shoulder over a net shirt with a black vest covering it; Gray pants; Weapons holster on belt

Personality: lazy; good strategist; brutal in battle; enjoys watching clouds

Bio: born to Shikamaru and Ino. Became a ninja due to family tradition

Skills: Nara family jutsu, strategy

Jutsu: Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)

Jiheki-

Appearance: male; Short dark blue hair; Suna hitai-ate around forehead; Tan and brown clothing; A diagonal strap across his chest to hold up his sand gourd; Gentle face;

Personality: Kind and fun-loving; Tends to be somewhat thoughtless in his actions; Mildly rash

Bio: born in Suna. He was entranced by the third Kazekage's powers over metallic sand from a young age and attempted to copy the ability. He imbues the metallic sand he carries with him with his chakra to control it.

Skills: control over metal sand

Jutsu: Konesuna no Jutsu (Sand Drawing Jutsu), Satetsu Joushou no Jutsu (Rising Metal Sand Jutsu), Kaisho Satetsu no Jutsu (Metal Sand Club Jutsu)

Souran-

Appearance: male; Full body black body suit shaped mildly like a spider with jaw-like mandibles around the hood and spider-like face paint; Suna hitai-ate around forehead; Almost always carries around a bundle on his back (his puppet)

Personality: mute; Resigned to remain without much attention; good listener; Follows nearly the same strategy every time he fights, though with slight variations; Very serious.

Bio: born to a pair of jounin Suna nin. Parents soon found out he was mute, so they learned a sign language along with him. They supported him throughout his career as a ninja

Skills: puppetry jutsu with mild taijutsu

Jutsu:

Ichijin-

Appearance: female; Straight black hair pulled back in a pair of ponytails; Purple clothing that clings to her muscular form; Net shirt underneath; Suna hitai-ate tied around waist

Personality: confident; a tad violent; sees Temari as her role-model and tried to mimic her; tends to worry a lot

Bio: grew up among civilians. Decided to become a ninja when a mugger attacked one of her friends and their parents, putting them all in the hospital.

Skills: wind jutsu involving the fan

Jutsu: Kamaitachi no Jutsu

Jetto-mu-

Appearance: female; Brown hair tied in a single bun; Wears thick wool on body to keep her warm when she uses wind jutsu; Iwa hitai-ate around neck

Personality: Quiet and reserved; Content doing whatever told; Always calm; Shows almost no emotions, though is mildly perverted

Bio: unknown

Skills: wind jutsu

Jutsu: Fuuton: Hitofuki no Jutsu (Wind style: Wind Gust Jutsu), Fuuton: Teikiatsu Kikou no Jutsu (Wind Style: Cyclone Armor Jutsu), Fuuton: Shippuu no Jutsu (Wind Style: Hurricane Jutsu), Fuuton: Shippuu no Jutsu! (Wind Style: Gale Jutsu)

Shusen-

Appearance: male; Enormous muscles; Wears a vest and pants; Hitai ate around forehead, with the attached bandana covering top of head; Giant club on back

Personality: Easily angered; Not one to think things through

Bio: unknown

Skills: muscle taijutsu and defensive auto-ninjutsu

Jutsu: Doton: Ganbansukin no Jutsu (Earth style: Rock Skin Jutsu)

Kazan-

Appearance: male; Ginger hair; Clothes that cling tightly to his form; Leader of Rock genin team; Iwa hitai-ate around forehead

Personality: Confident/arrogant; Good leader; Thinks tactically; Normal emotions

Bio: unknown

Skills: kekkei genkai that allows him to control lava

Jutsu: Funka no Jutsu (Eruption Jutsu), Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Magumahachi (Summoning Jutsu: Magma Cauldron), Doton: Kakousoushi no Jutsu (Earth Style: Crater Creation Jutsu)

Omoi-

Appearance: male; short white hair; Akatsuki cloak when not in disguise

Personality: Cautious almost to a fault; Punctual; Good with people

Bio: unknown, though he is currently a member of Akatsuki

Skills: suggestive nin/genjutsu

Jutsu:

Kuroji-

Appearance: male; pale skin; often wears a dark hood, hiding the various hitai-ate that he has stolen, with a dark body-suit to match

Personality: confident; enjoys mocking his opponents; believed a job was to earn money and that was the point of the world

Bio: assassin for hire.

Skills: sword play; silent killing

Jutsu: Ninpou: Ketatamashii Ken (Ninja Art: Piercing Blade)

Aitaro Kaji-  
Appearance: male; 14; Messy light blue hair and bright green eyes. Wears normal black  
ninja sandals, long black pants and a long sleeved black shirt with a red  
spriral on the back (like Naruto's). Thin with very pale skin.  
Personality: Sarcastic, joking, friendly, kind and loyal to his teammates and  
friends. (Aitaro is extremely sarcastic (more so with people he doesn't  
know) and loves to tell jokes. He is very loyal to his teammates and friends.  
He is friendly and easy going.)

Bio: Aitaro was born in the leaf village and has lived there ever since. His  
family is very large with cousins abroad and all over the Leaf Village. He had many childhood friends due to his kindness and friendliness. Born in the Kaji clan of Konoha. Shortly before his graduation from the ninja academy one of his clan members was killed brutally after refusing to surrender to enemy shinobi. Ever since then Aitaro developed a habit of surrendering the moment he finds himself outclassed due to fear of what happened to his fellow clan member. He is the heir to the Kaji clan.  
Skills: Ninjutsu and taijutsu/doujutsu, Aitaro is mainly a ninjutsu  
specialist(which isn't normal is his clan) but due to the fact he is the heir  
his clan he was obligated to learn the techniques of his clans kekkei genkai  
which is useful in taijutsu.  
Jutsu: genin/chunin ranked elemental jutsu

Nagamori Kiyoko-  
Appearance: female; 14; She has dark brown hair, which she ties in two tails at the front and a large ponytail at the back. She has grey eyes. She wears a dark turquoise kimono top, with a sea green obi, and black, knee length, shorts. She wears sandals on her feet, and wears fishnet on her elbows. She wears a forehead protector (on her forehead) and on the back of her top there is a blue rose. She also carries a large scroll on her back.  
Personality: Kiyoko is very calm and serene, and chastises her teammates gently when she is annoyed (which seems to scare them). She rarely gets riled up and is friendly to everyone, and does so with proper etiquette.  
Bio: Kiyoko is from Amegakure, from a noble but unheard of family. She hears of Akatsuki's downfall and about how good a kunoichi Konan was and decides to emulate her. She practices with developing paper jutsu much like Konan's. She stays loyal to Ame to this day as a chuunin.  
Skills: Kiyoko focuses on Paper Jutsus, and can freely manipulate her paper to form weapons, defenses, transport, and even her own clothes. She collects the paper from her scroll. She is relatively weak in others areas of ninjutsu, and knows basic taijutsu and genjutsu release.  
Jutsu:

Name: Ookami Hokori (since the first name is the last name.)  
Age: Appears to be 17 to 20, age will be explained in History.  
Appearance: Looks like a young man with Scottish features, high cheek bones, a sharp somewhat square chin, with a large smile. His canine teeth are longer and sharp, like a wolf (Ookami means Wolf in Japanese). His hair is curly dirty blonde, long enough to touch the bottom of his neck. His eyes are Hazel green but change to the colour glowing blue when he uses his chakra. He wears a baby blue sleeveless and dark blue cargo pants. He has a small goatee. He is around six feet talk, thin but strong built. Doesn't wear shoes, has sharp toe and finger nails. His hairy on his arms and legs, and has wolf ears. Tattoo of a wolf running across his right bicep.  
Personality: Likes to make jokes, especially in a fight, to the point wear it annoys the enemy. Act care free but can be calm and wise when needed. Has a self hatred problem. When he gets angry he goes off the deep end.  
Bio(long): long ago he lived in the mountains in snow country, (need to come up with a village for him to be raised in) they have Totem-jutsu which allows them to gain the strengths of whatever animal they are in the totem pole. He was born in the village with his sister. They both trained in the arts of Tai-jutsu, and some Nin-jutsu, since wolves were warriors. Hokori cared about his sister so much, since his mother left them both to be raised by the citizens of the village. He had never left the mountain until his sister when missing when he was 12, he search for her through all the main countries for a year. He found her being the slave of the same missing nin that killed Taka's parents. Hokori tried to get his sister back but the nuke-nin decided to kill her, simply because Hokori wanted to save her. Hokori did not have the power to avenge his sister, so he returned to the mountains searching for a storm of legendary strength for its power, he comes across research on a sealing jutsu that supposedly greatly increases strength. After perfecting his use of the seal and doing as much further research as he could on the seal, he applies it to himself. He then finds out that he sealed a demon inside of him. It is a demon wolf. This would give him control over the weather, but he would not have FULL control of it and would always be in danger of releasing the demon. The demon was in love with the moon and, therefore, goes a little crazy on full moons, giving him a stronger influence over Hokori on full moons. four years he finds the storm, and tried to seal it in him, so he could use the power for revenge. His appearance changes as well, giving him wolf ears and immortality (doesn't age). Now with the power of the storm he searched for the missing nin who kidnapped and killed his sister. He soon found out that the Taka's father killed the traitor for killing his wife. Hokori both hates the Koudoukou clan and is thankful to it for avenging his sister. But now he was immortal without a purpose in life, so he searched the countries for a reason to live, and gets captured by Kabuto, who experiments on him until he is capable of replicating his sealing, giving his forces the power of demons, then allows him to escape.

An old story is the wolf lived in the sky with his love, the moon. The crow was jealous, so he told the wolf that the moon loved a special flower that only grew on earth. The wolf believed him but didn't know that it he set foot on earth he could never return to the sky, and that is why the wolf howls at the moon. My story for the demon is the same except that the wolf became so enraged with the crow that he became evil. So he would search the land for any village that the crow was in, searching as a wolf. And when ever he found the crow he would change into a storm, to try to ripe the crow from the sky, but the crow would fly too high for him and the wolf would continue to search for the crow.  
Skills: Is very good at both tai-jutsu and nin-justu but LOVES to use  
Tai-jutsu, something about his fist in a enemies face makes him happy. When he needs to fight seriously he uses Nin-jutsu as well, using lightning, wind and water based attacks. Fights very brutal and uses his long nails like claws, hands and feet.  
Jutsu:


	51. The Changes

((Ok, so I still haven't fully planned things out, due mostly to writers block atm, but I figure I've made you guys wait long enough, so I'd go ahead and start the post-time-skip arcs. Thank you to a few of you reviewers, who reminded me to get working again.

Also, it should be noted that if you're expecting a reply to your reviews, please turn on my ability to do so (I'm not entirely sure how to do that, or I'd tell you). Putting questions in what could be an anonymous review or something similar is annoying because I can't answer them, and I refuse to take up that much space replying to reviews at the start of chapters.

I also make a reference to one of my friends and a jutsu he created in this chapter. It amused me, so I decided to include it.

Anyway, enjoy the continuation of DDoW!))

**The Changes**

"I can't believe I have to do this mission!" exclaimed Hari exasperatedly. He walked alongside Taka and Katame with Shino-sensei trailing a short distance behind them, on their way to their latest B ranked task.

The trio had all grown considerably in the three years since their first chuunin exam. He had grown to nearly six feet, one of the tallest among their graduating class (and he seemed even taller due to his spiked green hair). His lanky frame had gained some muscle, farther emphasized by his tight earthy clothes and the spike still on his shoulder.

"Ha!" laughed Taka, "This is the best mission we've taken yet!" She wasn't nearly as tall as her two partners at only 5' 3", but she had an agile body, somewhat hidden by the loose clothes she wore, that both of the other two lacked. Her bright red hair hung just past her shoulder, where her hitai-ate was wrapped, as it had always been.

Hari snorted. "You _would_ look at it that way," he mumbled irritably. Hoping to find an ally, he turned toward his other teammate. "What do you think of the mission, Katame?"

The blue haired girl just continued to look ahead, her black gi hanging loosely on her slim frame, showing a hint of her fishnet underneath, as she walked on. "I do not see why you feel so emotional over this mission. We are merely retrieving stolen property." It almost seemed like habit now for her to have her hand near the hilt of her wakizashi, which hung on the red sash around her waist.

Taka grinned. "From a pervert!" she exclaimed, pumping a fist. "Maybe we'll get to rough him up some!"

Hari groaned. "But he's a ninja! It feels wrong to be ruining the fun of someone who is so like me."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Of course you would see it like that. Stupid pervert. You're lucky that Magusa-chan puts up with you." Hari scowled and lashed out with a half-hearted punch. Taka ducked out of the way and backed up to put Shino-sensei between the two of them, sticking her tongue out at the green haired teen. Then, she turned to look at her teacher. "So, how close are we now, Shino-sensei?"

The man looked as stoic as ever in his heavy trench coat as he responded. "He seems to have holed up in a building two blocks ahead."

Hari frowned. "Come to think of it, stealing from an Aburame woman probably wasn't the best idea. They probably keep a female beetle on all of their panties." He shrugged. "I guess the guy does deserve his fate for such carelessness."

Taka smirked in victory. "Exactly! We should give him what he rightfully earned before we turn him in." she paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Though, to be fair, getting through Konoha security is a bit of a feat, so he must not be completely incompetent." Hari only nodded.

They stopped talking and approached with relative silence the rest of the way. When they were just outside, Shino motioned for them to split into groups and attack from two different angles. They all nodded, and Katame followed Shino-sensei around back.

Taka and Hari waited until they heard the thud of the back door being thrown open before bursting in themselves. Strewn about the room were women's undergarments, quite clearly the stolen articles. However, they offending ninja already had his hands moving through seals for a jutsu. Taka tried to rush forward and stop him, but she was too late.

"Jimmy no Jutsu!"

Taka stopped, throwing her hands up in front of her face as a gust of wind blew at her from all sides. Yet, it wasn't exactly painful. Instead, when it was over, she felt a little colder than usual but little else. She opened her eyes and found the man standing there with a smirk on his face. It wasn't until she caught movement out of the corner of her eye that she noticed why.

She turned and blushed madly at the sight of her sensei and female teammate in the nude, both looking a tad irritated. Glancing down, she realized that she, too, was naked. When she heard a thud behind her, she couldn't help but look in that direction, only to find Hari, without clothes, unconscious with an enormous nosebleed. She was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of skin around her and soon followed her male teammate into nosebleed induced unconsciousness.

The thief grinned, turning toward the other two team members, only to be shocked to see them not only up but moving toward him in a very controlled manner. He barely had time to trip on one of the panties thrown about the floor before they were on him, tying him up.

The jutsu had apparently completely destroyed all of their clothes because there was no trace of them anywhere. They were all forced to swing by home before they could present their achievement to the Hokage and receive their mission payment. What was worse was that it looked like it was getting ready to rain. Taka had decided to walk home separate from the others so she could vent some of her frustration at her own poor performance (and the realization that she was at least somewhat of a pervert herself) without getting the others involved; that would only lead to pointless arguments. By the time she was dressed once more in her standard clothing, her anger had only festered.

Cursing under her breath, she took the long way home after reporting the successful mission and ended up kicking more than a few lamp posts along the way, only barely making sure not to kick hard enough to injure herself or the post. It was as her temper was finally calming a bit that she came across some people she recognized sitting at the base of a tree, a pair that had become a familiar sight amongst their age group. Taking a deep breath and deciding it was safe to talk to people now, she walked up to them.

"Hey, Tounyo-kun, Rei-chan!"

Rei gave no reply, but Tounyo looked up from his book and smiled. "Hey, Taka-chan, how's it going?" The boy had grown a substantial amount in the last three years. He was no longer a stick but had actual muscle on his bones. His blond hair had grown out just a tad, but it was still distinctly _him_. Yet, despite these changes, his calm teal eyes had remained the same.

Taka responded by grumbling under her breath. Tounyo chuckled lightly. "Not so good, huh?" Taka merely shook her head. Tounyo stood up, stretching as he did so. "My team finished our mission early yesterday, so we got today off. After nearly a month-long assignment, I'd say we deserve it." He glanced over at where Rei was curled up, sleeping, against the trunk of the tree. "Her team finished this morning, but it was apparently a tough mission. Hitayio lost a lot of blood and Hotaru fractured her arm. Both are in the hospital but should be released within a day." He gazed down at her affectionately. "She's been exhausted all day, so I've let her sleep."

Taka felt a twinge of jealousy but quickly squashed it. He was just a friend.

Besides, even Taka had to admit that the girl was attractive. At 5'9", she was a bit tall for a woman, and her long, fit legs were emphasized by her black pants. The fishnet and bandanna-like tank-top covered her torso, leaving pale skin showing up to her shoulders. It was no surprise that she garnered attention from a large portion of the male population when she walked past.

Tounyo glanced up at the sky. "Guess we should head inside now, though. Don't want to get wet." He lightly kicked Rei in the back, calling her name. The girl stirred but didn't awaken. Sighing, he bent down and shook her shoulder. "Come on, Rei, I know you don't want to get rained on."

The cat nin's head rolled to the side so that she was looking up, and her eyes slowly opened. She stared up at his face as she blinked into wakefulness. He gave her an amused grin. "Awake enough to head inside?" Rei blinked a couple more times, still staring at Tounyo, before rolling onto her stomach. The male blonde rose to his feet as Rei stretched in a very cat-like manner. He watched her with a half grin as she sleepily rose to her feet.

The trio began walking down the street in the general direction of Taka's house. Rei was only barely paying attention to the conversation, too exhausted for her mind to properly keep up. Tounyo realized this and paid only enough attention to her to keep her from running into anything as he talked to Taka.

"So, you excited about Koukatsu's birthday party next week?"

Taka pursed her lips. She had almost forgotten about that. "Yeah, somewhat. Not sure I want to be around that many people though."

Tounyo gave her a grin. "Heh, I can certainly understand that. They must've invited a hundred people to attend it. It's a good thing they have the whole Uchiha district to accommodate everyone." As he spoke, he grabbed Rei by the elbow and directed her around a pole, as her eyes had closed. As he did so, she twitched and opened her eyes again, shaking her head in an attempt to wake up.

Taka gave a light chuckle. "Well, they are certainly wealthy enough to splurge on crap like this. I mean, they received the whole Uchiha fortune. I don't think they CAN run out of money."

The boy snorted. "True that." He looked like he was about to continue, but rain suddenly began pouring all around them. Rei yelped, wide awake now, and darted inside the nearest store, the other two following close behind. A few seconds later, Masaru, in all his fully grown panther glory, hopped down from a nearby roof and joined them inside.

Rei sat down on the ground in a corner of the store, whimpering, as more people continued to trickle out of the downpour. Tounyo walked over and knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, both of the wet from their short time outside. "You alright?"

The cat nin whimpered. "I hate the rain."

The blonde gave her a weak smile. "I know." He glanced out the window next to him with a slight frown. "I hadn't thought it was supposed to rain today…"

Taka stepped up beside him with a look of irritation on her face. "Yeah, me either."

Both of them missed to suspicious look that crossed Rei's face as they stared out the window.

Taru lay in a clearing just outside of the village, looking up at the sky as it slowly began to cloud over. Her blond hair was splayed about her head in a lazy fashion. Her body had matured significantly in the last three years, though it was only ever hinted at with the loose clothing she wore. Still, as she stared lazily at the shifting sky, it was clear that little had changed about her personality.

On her right laid Rokudenashi, their hands resting lightly against each other's palms. He had grown relatively tall and lanky, but he clearly had an aura of intelligence about him. His black hair was pulled up above his head in a ponytail. Overall, he appeared more the wise general than the soldier. He looked into the sky with a relaxed expression, clearly enjoying himself.

On Taru's left sat Hana, her former kitten, with her head resting on her paws, almost asleep. She was definitely not a kitten any longer, as she was nearly the size of Taru and made of almost pure muscle.

The group as a whole just seemed to be enjoying the time off that they had together.

However, as the clouds started to shift more quickly, darkening, Taru and Hana both shivered. Rokuden tilted his head and gave her a questioning look. She frowned and stood up, lightly pulling him with her. "There was something unusual about that weather change…" she muttered to him as Hana stood as well, ears perked and alert for trouble.

Rokuden put his nose against her neck affectionately. "Should we inform Hokage-sama?"

Taru shook her head. "The Inuzuka would have felt it too. If it is something worth concerning the Hokage over, they can tell her. They would have a better sense for this type of thing than I would." She turned back toward the village. "We should, however, get back, cause it's going to rain very shortly. Rokuden only nodded and the trio started heading home.

None of them were happy when the rain started falling heavily just as they reached the gate.

Hitayio stared out the window of his hospital room, watching the rain fall outside. His red hair was still just as long, down to his waist, with hints of black at the bangs. Kizui had often teased that it was girly, but Hitayio liked his hair; it was just a tad difficult to make sure it didn't get in the way. Besides, the looks he got from some of the civilian girls were worth it. Though, his unique clothing, black with a distinct crimson wing design on the back, may have had something to do with that, too. Too bad at this point both were only emphasizing his pale complexion. Losing a lot of blood did not make him look good.

He glanced over at Hotaru. She had become beautiful in the past three years. Her red tank-top emphasized her lithe build spectacularly. Even if she was a tad on the short side, the black, knee-length shorts she wore exposed a substantial amount of leg. The leather choker she always wore around her neck only serve to attract more attention, just like her light purple hair pulled back in a braid. With the way she looked, you would think she would be arrogant, but she was always on the verge of confidence and insecurity. Hitayio would never understand why. Even the cast around her arm hardly diminished her splendor.

The red haired boy motioned outside. "At least we're not missing much here, stuck in the hospital."

Hotaru gave him a weak smile. "True." Clearly, her injury was worse than his, as she still seemed to be in slight pain. He gave her a sympathetic look before turning to look back outside. Maybe it would be best if he let her rest.

Unfortunately, this possibility was interrupted not a minute later when the door burst inward. In strode a tall and lanky figure, his shoulder-length white hair covering his face. Hitayio quickly recognized the loose clothes and belt lined with numerous kunai. When the figure raised what looked suspiciously like a rocket launcher from the ground to brace it on his shoulder, Hitayio's eyes widened.

"No! Don't!"

The figure ignored him and proceeded to pull the trigger. A mass of brightly colored, rainbow liquid blasted from the object, covering almost the entire room in its goop. Hitayio, in his weakened state had been unable to dodge and was also covered in the stuff. He glanced to the side and saw that Hotaru was blinking owlishly, her body covered in it as well, apparently having been too stunned to move out of the way.

The figure burst out laughing. "I got you with my rainbow jizz!" he declared, only barely able to get it out between laughs.

Hitayio only glared at him, wiping the stuff off of his face. "I hate you, Kizui…so much…"

Hari grinned as he snuck up on a young woman in the rain, using all of his considerable stealth skills. The woman wore a blue tank-top and darker blue pants. Her platinum blond hair came down to her shoulders. The real "Wow!" factor came from her nearly perfect body, even looking at her from behind as Hari was right now. Yet, here in Konoha, the most notable factor was the Kiri hitai-ate that hung around her neck.

Luckily, he had become used to this beauty a long time ago, and it didn't affect him nearly as much as it used to. Instead, as he approached, he had to resist the urge to snicker. He approached as silently as he could, making sure to keep concentration for his camouflage jutsu up. When he was finally close enough, he grabbed her by the hips. She yelped and took a step away.

"Gotcha, Magusa-chan!"

She finally calmer herself, and turned to glare at him. The two had been unofficially seeing each other for nearly a year, ever since she had convinced Mist that she should be the liaison with Konoha. They hadn't actually _done_ anything yet, largely because Hari couldn't build up the guts to truly go for it, but everyone could see it was there.

"You'll pay for that," she stated with finality.

Hari only stuck his tongue out at her. The girl gave a sigh and turned to look at the sky, raining down on them. This made Hari become concerned. He took a comforting step closer. "You alright, Magusa-chan?"

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, Hari-kun."

The boy clearly didn't believe her, but decided to let the matter drop for now anyway. Instead, he motioned her toward a nearby building, her apartment while here in Konoha. "I know you're from Mist and like the water a lot, but maybe we should go inside out of the rain." He gave her a teasing grin.

She gave a teasing smirk right back. "Aw, is the poor doggy soaked and in need of a place to stay?"

Hari gave a growl, not unlike the animal she had just called him, then, reached for her, only half-trying to actually grab her. She stepped back out of the way and started jogging toward her apartment, giggling. Hari snarled and started after her, not really trying but enjoying the game anyway.

When they reached the door, Magusa held it open for him to duck inside. She paused outside a moment, staring at the sky.

She definitely recognized that chakra.


	52. Sixteenth Birthday

((I must say, I was surprised by the response I got after the last chapter. I wasn't expecting so many people to still be following the story. I'm glad to see I still have fans! Thank you all so much!

But I do apologize because this is more character development. I'm not too fond of it myself, but I feel it is necessary to set up how things have become after 3 years. I promise I will get to some action before I return to college and have to stop writing again.))

**Sixteenth Birthday**

Sokudo scowled irritably. He did not like this plan. He rode at the front of the boat that and the rest of his team, including the woman who had replaced Magusa, were on towards their next mission reluctantly. He reached a hand out to the railing in front of him so he would have something to release his frustration on.

He, too, had grown up. His form was surprisingly muscular and fit in his black wool clothes. His light blue hair was a little shorter, only to the base of his skull rather than his neck. Still, despite his somewhat girlish hair, his face was distinctly masculine. Yet, the most surprising change was that, in addition to the weapons pouch he carried around on his hip, he had a short blade, about a foot and a half in length, attached to his back with the hilt poking out the side for quick drawing.

His sensei, Subaya, stepped up beside him, his jaw set in resignation. Unlike his junior, the man hadn't changed much, still with a balding head and black cloak. "I know you don't like this mission, Sokudo. Hell, they brought me out of retirement, _again_, for this mission, so I certainly don't like it either. Nevertheless, we still have to follow orders." Sokudo grunted in annoyance. "We shinobi are merely tools to be used by our betters."

Sokudo glared at his sensei. "That's not true, and you know it."

The elder Mist nin frowned and stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Until someone is strong enough to defeat Mizukage-sama, I don't see what choice we have."

The blue haired chuunin narrowed his eyes at his senior. He knew what choice he had, and he was extremely tempted to make it. The old man in front of him was the only thing really keeping him from taking it. He didn't like his other two teammates, and Magusa was off in Konoha, probably without a clue about this plan. He had no true bonds in Mist. He didn't fit there, much like his grandfather didn't. Yet, the old man still refused to leave. Sokudo would never understand why he was so stubborn.

"In the meantime, we get to follow Mizukage-sama," continued Subaya, choosing to ignore the short silence that had reign between them.

Sokudo turned away, clenching his teeth. "Even if she wants to attack Konoha…"

Hinashin sat at a table in the most famed bar-b-cue restaraunts in Konoha. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail reaching to her mid-back. Her body, though not particularly well formed, was fit and trim, seemingly built more for agility than power, much like her mother. She spoke animatedly with the people around her.

On her side sat Koukatsu, black hair cut short and clothes, much like what his father had worn at the same age. His build was also agile, though he had a tad more muscle than Hinashin. His build took the maximum advantage of his Sharingan, as was standard in the now small clan. He didn't laugh like the others, but he did have a smile on his face, showing how much he was enjoying things.

The other side of the table sat the entirety of team Lee (the group had run into them on the way to the restaurant and forced them to come alone). Nebin was on one end with his face set in only mild amusement. Still, considering he had been raised by Hyuuga Neji, that was an accomplishment in itself. He had taken to copying much of his father's style, including the feminine hair, although, he did have a number of weapon pouches on his person, as well as a scroll strapped to his back.

In the middle was Koudoukou Hato. His red hair had been cut short so that it was more spikes than the smooth flowing hair that it used to be. His brown clothing still only served to emphasize how pale his skin was in comparison. However, his grin was much livelier than it ever had been three years ago.

Yet, the largest change was to be found in the third member of the team, Shan. It was quite clearly a "she" now, instead of the ambiguous form she had had before. She still had mostly muscle throughout her body, but she now had at least some curve to her figure. In addition, her hair had been grown out so that it was no longer a bowl cut but went down to mid-back, allowed to hang loose the entire length. The spandex she still insisted on wearing had been changed to black, rather than the hideous green, further showing off her feminine side. Altogether, she was much more beautiful than anyone ever could have thought she would be…

"Our flames of youth shall never diminish, even with this incessant rain around us!"

Until you got to her personality.

Luckily, Hinashin and Koukatsu's fathers were both nearby, having offered to pay for the group to get them to come along (although the Uchiha had required it to be somewhere other than Ichiraku's, much to the two Uzumaki's dismay). Sasuke paused in his bickering with the blond to smack Shan in the back of the head, successfully subduing her for the moment. The two returned to their teasing of one another, one with an infectious grin and the other with a smile that he was only barely trying to hide.

"This rain has been going for quite a while," remarked Nebin, putting aside their merry-making for now. "Unusual, seeing as how we tend to get rain that only lasts a few hours before dispersing." The mood, though not exactly somber, did diminish somewhat at that comment.

Considering this rain had continued for four days, it was of some concern. The Hokage had put all available ninja on alert the day before, meaning they had to be ready to move at a moment's notice. That, alone, was never a good sign.

"Pshaw! Whatever's coming should just hurry up and come so we can kick the crap out of it!" exclaimed Hinashin, planting a foot up on the table, ignoring the empty plates that she stepped on.

"Yosh!" Hato quickly elbowed Shan in the side, stopping any further outburst.

"Dattebayo!" shouted Naruto from the table over, showing his support and agreement with his daughter as he also put a foot on his table.

Almost simultaneously, Sasuke and Koukatsu reached up and grabbed their respective Uzumaki by the collar and pulled them back down into their seat.

Hato just shook his head. "We've seen this before. Hell, it's rained for two weeks straight before. We have a substantial sewer system specifically because of our unusual weather. You all know that. Just because it hasn't happened in a while, doesn't mean it can't. I'm not that worried." He paused to let everyone think over what he had just said. "Now, if it starts snowing, then I'll start worrying."

Hinashin leaned over the table to cover Hato's mouth with a hand. "Sh! Don't say that! Then it really _will_ start snowing, and I hate the cold!" She made a face of disgust.

Koukatsu chuckled lightly beside her. "I agree with Hato. Being ready and worrying are two entirely different things."

Shan gave a decisive nod. "Indeed. Instead, we should focus on something far more youthful…" she trailed off, giving an intimidating grin to Koukatsu.

Nebin, catching on and enjoying the Uchiha's discomfort, continued for her. "Koukatsu's birthday party."

Koukatsu groaned. He hated being so spoiled by his parents. He wanted to be able to handle things on his own, and then they go and do something like this, where he had no choice but to let them.

Sasuke chuckled, walking up to their table with Naruto on his heels. "Yes, do focus on that. Seeing as it's his sixteenth, I promise it'll be a birthday to remember." Koukatsu shivered at the mischievous stare that Naruto sent him from behind his father's back. He could tell this was not going to be good. "In the meantime, how bout I get you all home.

Once out the door, Sasuke performed a wind jutsu that would keep the rain from hitting them. Not to be outdone, Naruto performed it as well, putting so much chakra in it that back onto the roofs of the nearby buildings. Sasuke only rolled his eyes and starting walking.

Four days later…

Naruto ducked inside the Uchiha clan main house to be met with raucous noise as he joined a veritable army of people inside. He grinned energetically as his wife stepped in behind him. Scattered around the large entry room were elaborate decorations, balloons, streamers, and confetti thrown everywhere. On an enormous banner running from one side of the room to the other were the words "Happy Birthday, Koukatsu!". Clearly, Sakura had been the one decorating.

Speaking of, the pink haired woman, for once not pregnant, approached them with a wide smile on her face. "Hey! Naruto! Hinata-chan! Glad you all could make it!" Hinashin darted inside, sliding past her two parents and heading toward the other chuunin. Sakura laughed. "And you, too, Hinashin-chan!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't miss it. Sasuke's first-born is turning sixteen!"

Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "_Whose_ first-born?"

Naruto recoiled slightly. "Er…"

"Never mind him, Sakura-chan" interrupted Hinata, saving her husband from the other woman's wrath. "You know he means no offense."

The blone chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah. I just always seem to think of Sasuke fir-" He was cut off by an elbow to the stomach, courtesy of his wife. The dark haired woman only continued to smile at Sakura pleasantly while her significant other bent over coughing.

Sakura gave them an amused look. Naruto never had had much tact. Or common sense. Or any kind of sense really. Maybe she should just stop now before she got going.

"Come on," she said instead. "We're gathering the old Konoha Twelve back here." She led the two of them back through the building, ignoring Naruto's excited whoop. At the second door on the right, they entered to find the rest of the Konoha Twelve sitting on a circular couch, surrounded by their sensei and other jounin. As people moved around, Naruto even caught sight of the Hokage!

Naruto darted forward and hopped onto the couch, on top of Kiba and Chouji, who both cried out in protest. Naruto laughed, giving them both hugs before standing up and looking at the others. "It's been _way_ too long, guys. Everyone, c'mere!"

Chuckling, the group stood up to start exchanging hugs. The group had become practically family over the years. Having not had all twelve together in over three years, they all welcomed the contact between them, even Shikamaru, despite calling it "troublesome".

As the group finally started to settle in, Sakura gave a bright grin. "We ready to make this party exciting?"

The Twelve grinned, even Shino had a small smile on his face. They had been asked to come up with something they could do to add to the party. Each of them had something interesting.

In the background, Tsunade could be heard muttering. "Oh, this should be good!"

Tounyo sighed, watching as about half of his generation entered an eating contest, hosted by Chouji Akimichi. He must admit, the party had been fun, despite his concern about there being too many people. The surprises brought by the Twelve, which none of the younger generation had known about, had turned out well. Kiba had brought a small pack of dogs, which had become popular as soon as everyone had found them, especially the three puppies among them. Beautiful butterflies and lightning bugs flew around the building, remaining from the swarm that had invaded upon Shino's command.

Still, he glared at Kizui. "I can't believe you managed to spike the punch, even though I was watching you," he muttered.

The white haired boy only grinned. He had used a hollow senbon to carry the powerful alcohol and poured it into the punch while Tounyo was out of reach and incapable of stopping him. "Double-spiked, actually."

The blond gave him an odd look. "What?"

Kizui raised an eyebrow. "Someone had already spiked it. Probably Uzumaki-sama."

Tounyo gave him an incredulous look. Then again, Kizui did look up to the man for a reason, and it would explain why he had steadfastly refused to explain what his contribution was as of yet. How he could have gotten it by all of the jounin here, he wasn't sure. Speaking of…

"How would you know that?"

Kizui grinned at him, raising his glass. It was filled with punch. "I can actually taste the alcohol, so it's a lot stronger than just what I put in there."

Tounyo shook his head, silently making a vow to avoid the punch. He glanced around to see who else was drinking the fruity beverage. To his annoyance, a lot of his generation was drinking it and very few of the people who would actually realize that it as spiked were doing so. The only person that would actually recognize the added alcohol that was actually drinking it was the Hokage. Why hadn't she put a stop to this?

Then, he stopped to think about it. She probably _did_ realize that it was spiked and didn't want to stop it. In fact, it seemed she had started drinking that instead of her normal alcohol.

Tounyo put a hand over his eyes. This was going to be bad, he could tell.

He looked up when he noticed Kizui starting to walk away. "Where are you going?"

The white haired teen gave him a sly grin. "I'm off to get lucky."

Tounyo gave an exasperated sigh. He hated hearing that phrase. "Just try to behave yourself."

Kizui's grin widened. "But I _always_ behave, Tounyo-chan."

The blond just shook his head.

Rokuden had been feeling slightly lightheaded for a while. He had known that something was off about the punch but had kept drinking it anyway. He knew he would regret that in the morning. At least he had stopped for now.

"Let's go somewhere alone, so we can take this relationship to the next level."

Clearly, he wasn't the only one. He turned with a heavy head to Taru, who was at his side with both arms around his body. "You're drunk. You don't really want that. We've both agreed we're still too young. You're supposed to be at least sixteen."

The blond girl pouted weakly in his arms. "But I don't want to wait."

Rokuden chuckled lightly, glad he was still at least somewhat lucid. He took the punch glass out of her hands, receiving no real protest. "I think you're done."

"Hm," she responded with drunken seductiveness. "As long as we can go somewhere alone now."

He glanced around with a sigh. Most of his friends were nearby, having their own conversations, many of them also showing signs of having drunk too much alcohol. They didn't seem to be paying any attention to the two of them.

He turned back to Taru with a slight smile. "Alright, fine," he said, while he thought _"I'll get some cold water and pour it on you on the way."_

He stood up, pulling Taru with him. The girl stumbled, catching hold of his arm to balance herself, then laughed. He rolled his eyes but started walking slowly, so she wouldn't trip again.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Nara saw his mother and father removing the remains of the punch. They had probably deemed everyone drunk enough that they didn't need any more. _"About time."_

He smiled when he remembered what they had done to contribute to the party. His father had used some of his jutsu to create a sort of shadow puppet show, which his mother had then added voices to. It had been rather amusing.

He was brought back to the present when Taru grabbed his butt and giggled, causing him to jump slightly. Rolling his eyes again, he grabbed her arm and put it back around his waist, ignoring her cute pout, and started walking toward the nearest bathroom.

As soon they were inside, he walked up to the sink and started the cold water running, grabbing a small paper cup from nearby. As he started filling it, he heard the door lock. Turning, he found Taru giving him what was supposed to be a seductive grin but turned out more wobbly than anything. He stared at her as she stumbled over to him, grabbing his arms to stay upright. He raised an eyebrow as she pulled him close.

Then, she kissed him solidly on the lips, pushing their bodies together with surprising strength. Rokuden's eyes darted open, sobering him quickly. He tried to push her back, but she refused to back down and kept their lips locked firmly.

When he felt water start to pour out around his hands, he realized the cup in his hands was full. Before she started to try to take it too far, he brought the cup up and dumped the cold water over her head.

Gasping, Taru pulled back. "What was that for?" she demanded, sounding far more articulate than she had since starting to drink the punch.

Rokuden only glared at her. "Troublesome woman…"

The blond woman's eyes widened. "Wait, I was…" she trailed off, her face turning a bright red.

The Nara gave her a deadpan look. "Exactly."

She pulled him into a chaste hug in an effort to hide her blush. "Sorry, Ro-kun."

The teen let out a relieved sigh. "Just don't let it happen again."

Taru nodded. With heads much clearer than they had been in a few hours, they returned to the party, only to realize that there were other people they would have to take care of.

Omoi arrived at the darkened meeting place at the exact same time as his leader, right on time. The two stood facing each other for almost a minute, silent tension between them.

Finally, the blue haired leader spoke. "They are attacking tonight?"

His white haired ally nodded. "The Mist should be striking within a few hours, leader-sama."

The whites of his leader's teeth could be seen, even in the gloom. "Excellent. We can begin re-introducing ourselves to those in the know shortly. Even they won't know a thing until we are nearly halfway to our objective."

Omoi bowed slightly. "Of course, leader-sama."

Ever since he had lost his cover in the Sound, the man had been slightly cold to Omoi. Their organization rarely accepted failure and, even now, the only reason he was still with them was because he was found out by Orochimaru, a former member himself and a master of getting inside someone's head, even moreso than Omoi.

After Sound, they had sent to white haired ninja to Kiri to gather information on the other end of that chain. Since Sound and Mist had become allies, they were almost as good a target for spying as Sound had been. Of course, with how much information Orochimaru always kept to himself, it was always hard to tell whether things would actually go as everyone else planned them. Luckily, it would be hard for him to mess up their organization's plans. All they needed was chaos, and the man was a master of that.

Still, despite Omoi giving good information from Mist, the leader gave him a cold gaze. Resisting the urge to snap at the man, Omoi only turned to leave. There was no further need for him to be there.

Besides, things were going to get moving quickly, and he wanted at least some part in it, aside from his role as spy for Akatsuki.


	53. The War Begins

((Alright, unfortunately, this is likely to be the last chapter for a while as next week I'll be starting college classes again, this time with a heavier load than ever. I do apologize for his, but there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for the coming wait.))

**The War Begins**

Hotaru could tell that she was a little muddled. The only explanation she could think of was that someone had spiked the punch.

That would also explain why she found Hitayio with his arm slung around her shoulder singing terribly so amusing. Under his other arm was Hato, who looked more than a little uncomfortable.

Clearly, the others around her were similarly drunk because they were all laughing at what wouldn't be all that funny were they sober. Only Taru and Rokuden seemed to be mildly lucid after returning from a five minute adventure. She would've thought they would last longer than that, but apparently being drunk hampered them more than she thought. Or they were just naturally that fast.

Either way, now they were busy trying to keep all the others from doing anything too stupid, which at this point would have been too amusing for Hotaru to stop.

Rei had been coming and going regularly, seemingly hesitant about something, but slowly losing what restraint she had. Kizui had taken a liking to one of the younger Uchiha girl, a pink haired chuunin a year younger than them; the two stayed near the edge of the group, not straying far but not really joining in either. Taka had joined in the merry-making among the group, having put her arm around her cousin, trapping him between her and Hitayio. Hari, as well as the representative from Kiri, Magusa, were nearby, holding hands with blushes on their face; about time, too.

Of the older generation, most of them were in the group that had merged with theirs about an hour ago. Shan was swaying drunkenly next to Taka, with Nebin nearby, sober enough to offer her weak support when she needed it. Hinashin and Koukatsu were both pretty out of it, as well, leaning against each other in an effort to stay upright.

The only two in their generation that were truly sober were Katame and Tounyo. Katame was standing off to the side, simply observing the people as they partied, a small smile on her face. Tounyo, however, stood just outside the front door, still under the awning, and allowed the others to have their fun on their own. Hotaru was a little disappointed he didn't want to join them but wasn't all that surprised. He had always been strongly against alcohol.

It had been a fun night. Between all of the special events brought out by the older ninja and just hanging out with her friends, it had been great. In fact, it was probably around three in the morning and no one seemed tired. Hell, the party may last all night.

She grinned at the thought. What fun!

Tounyo glanced inside the building with a small smile on his face. Even if he wasn't fond of alcohol, the others could have fun without him. He would just stay out of the way.

He watched in bemusement as Kizui led a slightly younger female Uchiha by the hand down the hallway. He opened one of the side doors and, even before they were inside the girl had pushed her lips against his. Tounyo rolled his eyes. The boy must've had his kekkei-genkai activated cause he was already getting lucky with a woman he should've had no chance with…

He chuckled lightly, turning his back so he was facing the rain outside, leaning against the edge of the doorway. The dark rain that was just within arm's reach contrasted greatly with the happy atmosphere inside. At least there were a bunch of lights spread around to make the area somewhat bright.

He noticed someone approaching him from inside. He figured they were just going to head outside, possibly home, but was surprised when the person stopped just outside the doorway. He heard a giggle and realized it was Rei that had joined him. With a glance, he could also tell that she was quite drunk.

"Hey, Rei-chan." He gave her a raised eyebrow. "Tired of being surrounded by people?"

She gave another drunken giggle. "No, silly, I came out here to join you," she declared, swatting him playfully on the arm.

Considering the pair had started spending time together so that he could write and she read (she had actually started editing his work), he was touched, though not all that surprised. "You didn't have to do that. You looked like you were having fun in there."

She gave him a grin. "I was, but I want to have fun with you, Tounyo-kun." She grabbed his arm between her own and pulled it toward her torso.

The blonde teen blushed, instinctively pulling back a little. "Er…Thanks, Rei-chan, but you really don't have to-" He was cut off as the girl pushed her lips against his. His eyes shot wide open in shock. Before he could really respond in any reliable way, she fell limp against him, forcing him to catch her or have her fall flat on her face.

For nearly five minutes, he just stood there, mind blank, staring at nothing. When his mind finally returned to him, he started cursing. "Damn it, woman. How am I supposed to know whether you were serious or just drunk?" he asked her unconscious form.

He gave her a sharp glare before sighing. "First, I need to wake you up and sober you, huh?" He picked her up bridal style and reluctantly headed inside, looking for a bathroom. Somehow, he knew he wouldn't be able to figure it out for a while…

Naruto grinned heartily. The party had been a major success. He had even caught sight of someone else spiking the punch after he had already done so. Of course, when the women of his generation found out that his donation to the party had been alcohol in the punch, as many of them were quickly realizing, he would be in major trouble.

Especially with his wife.

Honestly, he was surprised they hadn't already pounced on him. Maybe they had decided that what he had done wasn't so bad and really was in the spirit of things.

But he doubted it.

Lucky for him, they wouldn't get the chance to attack him tonight.

Unfortunately, this wouldn't go so well for the village as a whole.

Three figures entered the door, quickly looking around. His generation was immediately on guard, though the younger nins weren't quite as aware.

The three were wearing Mist hitai-ates around their foreheads.

When one of them started a set of hand seals, Naruto was immediately there in a Shunshin, ramming a fist into his cheek. He felt the cracking of the man's skull as he was sent back out the way he had come, definitely not getting back up any time soon.

He glanced to both sides to find Sasuke having dispatched another of the shinobi with his Kusanagi, stolen from Orochimaru when he had killed the man. On his other side, Lee was just slamming the other Kiri nin to the ground, making sure to leave him conscious enough for a quick interrogation.

The rest of the Twelve, plus the Hokage, were there in less than a second, the adrenalin quickly wearing off whatever buzz they had achieved during the party. After receiving an acknowledging nod from Tsunade, Ino knelt down next to the man's struggling form, still held down by Lee, performing a quick jutsu. Both of their bodies fell limp, Shikamaru catching his wife before she hit the ground.

All twelve of them waited impatiently as Ino gathered intel from the enemy. The rest of the party started to take noticed of things and began to gather nearby, looking for instructions from their leader.

Five seconds later, the blonde gasped as she returned to consciousness. She said only two phrases, but they sent chills down everyone's spines. "They've allied with Sound. They're invading _now_."

Sasuke had grabbed the Kusanagi from the front wall, where it had been hung on display, as soon as he saw the Mist nin start seals. He was the fastest ninja there; he knew he had the time. He waited, still as a statue for word from Ino. Sakura appeared next to him, her breath held silently.

"They've allied with Sound. They're invading _now_."

Sound was back…

Without realizing it, Sasuke was reaching a hand up to touch the curse mark that still rested against his neck, a silent reminder of former mistakes. He could have sworn he felt it pulse before he was stopped from touching it by his wife, her hand grasping his wrist. The pair's eyes met for a moment, exchanging words without voice. Finally, Sasuke nodded, trying to reassure her.

The two returned to the conversation, as the Hokage demanded more information.

"They're using the rain as cover. Some of them used water jutsu to get inside the village _through_ the rain. Their job is to strike a few key areas, including this compound, the Hyuuga, the Hokage Tower, and the village gate. When they finally let the rest of them in, they will then announce their presence and begin the real destruction."

Before she had even finished, Naruto and Hinata were gone, moving toward their compound. The others immediately looked toward their Hokage for orders. She didn't hesitate. "Tenten, Neji, take a few chuunin with you and investigate the Hokage Tower." The pair disappeared before she could even finish, taking Nebin, Shan, and Hato with them. "Rei, Taru, and Hari, you're the fastest chuunin here; I want you all the run through the village and spread the word to our ninja. The rest of you I want to spread out, with the majority heading toward the village gates. Eliminate any threats you come across. This is _war_!"

"Hai!" chorused the entirety of the gathering.

Not ten seconds later, Sasuke was jumping across rooftops through the city, Sakura and Koukatsu following after him, as well as his 13 year old genin son, whose pink hair had him being made fun of almost constantly. He was somewhat surprised his daughter hadn't come with them. His other children were all too young and knew better than to follow.

It quickly became clear that the enemy had already made it into the city. He dispatched two, while his wife took care of another. Then, both of them moved to assist their son, who had stalled the jounin long enough for the other two to take care of their enemies.

It was just as they were turning to move on that he felt a spike of pain run through him, emanating from the curse mark on his neck. He fell to the ground, hand going to his neck. The pain was more intense than he had felt in a long time, not since at least 17 years ago.

Not since he had killed Orochimaru.

"No…" he muttered as the other two Uchiha came up next to him, one putting a hand on his shoulder, already glowing with a diagnostic jutsu.

"What happened, Sasuke-kun?" asked his wife as he slowly regained control of his body after thhhe pain. He looked up into the rain that still hadn't let up darkly.

"Orochimaru is back."

Naruto landed in front of the Hyuuga compound, soaked to the bone due to the rain, now known to have been caused by a jutsu. His wife landed next to him a second later. So far, it looked like nothing had happened. Knowing that looks could be deceiving, the pair entered quickly.

They both scowled upon finding the corpses of two of the Hyuuga guard just inside the entrance.

They were already here.

Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan. The private rooms were shielded with chakra blocking minerals, but the rest of the compound was like an open book to her.

She quickly realized something was very wrong.

"About half of the compound has been evacuated, but the rest of it still has people in it."

Hinata started moving toward the populated portion of the compound, Naruto following after her. "At least that means that half of the clan is safe."

She shook her head, taking a quick turn. "The areas evacuated all house members of the Hyuuga Council." She paused, her eyes widening as she caught sight of three building chakra sources. "Crap! Get behind me!" Without hesitation, her husband did as ordered.

Not two seconds later, a series of roars echoed through the building. The wall beside them collapsed, just as Hinata initiated her Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms). A rush of water in the form of a dragon followed the crashing wall, crashing into her defensive technique, her hands moving with such speed that the lasers coming out of her palms formed a barrier. The dragon crashed around her technique, splitting apart, only to reform on the other side and continue on, destroying the wall on the other side of her.

She watched it turn upward with her Byakugan, two other water dragons doing the same from other parts of the compound. She saw them merge above the center of the compound. "We have to get out, _now_."

Being the faster of the two, Naruto grabbed her around the waist and Shunshined them out of the hole in the wall next to them. He appeared on the walls surrounding the compound just as the mass of water crashed into the ground. They caught a glimpse of the liquid spreading out after the crash with such force that it was flattening everything it came in contact with before they hopped behind the wall, Naruto performing a quick earth jutsu to reinforce them. On either side of the reinforced parts of the wall, the stone cracked before collapsing, allowing the water to run free into the streets. Luckily, the force behind the jutsu was dispersed, so they were only flooded with the remains of the water.

With the rain still falling on their heads, the pair hopped back on the little bit of wall that was left, only to gape at what was left of the Hyuuga compound.

Nothing.

"No…" muttered Hinata.

Naruto grit his teeth and jumped down, heading toward the remains. Hinata jumped down after him and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He turned toward her in surprise.

"I know you want to help my clan," she said, barely loud enough to be heard over the rain, "but the rest of the village needs you." She could tell he was reluctant to leave her alone. "I can take care of this little problem on my own. Please, go help our village."

He gave her a sad smile. "You'd better not die on me, beautiful." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before vanishing in a Shunshin.

With hard eyes, she turned toward what little was left of her compound. She stepped purposefully in the direction of the three enemy ninja.

Those three would pay.

Hato jumped across the rooftops, ignoring the rain as it pounded against his head and shoulders. He had his Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rabbit of the Zodiac Jutsu) activated so that he could keep up with the others; his speed never had been the best, and when compared to Neji, Tenten-sensei, Nebin, or Shan, he would have struggled without the jutsu.

The group landed in front of the Hokage Tower and both male Hyuuga activated their Byakugan. Hato saw Nebin grimace, no doubt having just seen the guards, dead just inside the door. Neji spoke to the group with the voice of authority.

"They're heading up, probably to the roof so they can escape after destroying the Tower. We can cut them off if we jump window to window." He paused as everyone prepared to make the first jump. "Just make sure you don't fall."

With the wall being made out of chakra neutralizing minerals, they had to avoid trying to stick to it with chakra, so instead they bolstered their legs with chakra and leapt from windowsill to windowsill. It was risky because they didn't have any way of catching themselves should they fall, but they didn't have time to go up the stairway.

Hato, with his jutsu that strengthened his legs exponentially, knew he would have no trouble with this task, so he silently allowed the others to go in front of him. He saw Shan struggle a little the first few jumps with the thin footholds, but once she adjusted she was fine. He kept an eye on them as he hopped up after them.

He was lucky he did because he saw Nebin slip and start to fall, only to catch himself by his fingertips. Hato jumped up to the windowsill he hung on and reached down carefully to pull the teen up beside him. Nebin gave him a grateful nod before taking off again, both understanding that time was vitally important under these circumstances.

The pair reached the top shortly after the rest of their group did. A group of two Mist nin and an Oto nin stood in front of the stairwell with the door open behind them. The two groups stared at each other for only a moment before the two Kiri shinobi stepped forward

"Start the jutsu," commanded one of them. "We'll defend you until you finish it." The Oto nin immediately did as told.

Tenten instantly started a barrage of kunai and shuriken on one of the front enemies, while her husband charged the other, initiating a taijutsu battle. The three chuunin turned their attention to the Oto nin that was running through hand seals at a rapid pace.

Before any of them could move, however, they felt ice start to creep up their legs, locking them in place. Hato turned in time to see Tenten's enemy release the last seal of his jutsu. The redhead scowled, pulled out a kunai to start clearing away the ice. To his right, he saw a blur.

Glancing up, he saw Shan kick the Sound nin in the stomach, sending him flying toward the edge of the roof. Her knuckles were bleeding slightly, no doubt from having punched her way free of the ice. He grinned lightly, going back to work on clearing the ice from his feet as Nebin did the same. He wasn't sure when the girl had taken off her weights, but thank Kami she had. The jutsu had been interrupted, so they could now take the opponent down together.

As soon as the rest of the team was free of the ice.

He heard Nebin break free with two quick Jyuuken strikes and dart forward to help Shan with her opponent.

With a few quick jabs of his kunai, Hato pulled his legs free with a grunt. He glanced at the two older shinobi to make sure they were doing fine with their opponents. Tenten had engaged her foe in a melee battle with a bo staff and was keeping him quite firmly on the defensive. Neji had already disabled both of his enemy's arms, meaning he had practically won.

His two teammates were having a bit more trouble. Even with her weights removed, Shan was only just as fast as her opponent now that he was ready for her, and Nebin, even though he was trying to jump in when the Oto nin was off balance, still couldn't catch him off balance; in fact, he looked as if he had been the one taking a beating.

Hato brought his hands up into a single seal. "Hebi Isshiki no Jutsu (Snake of the Zodiac Jutsu)." He ran forward, his hands held back with the fingers meeting in a point. He got close to where Shan was engaged with the Oto nin, Nebin jumping in when he saw a chance, and slowed down, stepping to the opposite side as the Hyuuga.

They waited until Shan managed to make him lift a leg to block and then both of her teammates struck. Clearly, he didn't realize how dangerous Hato's strikes were because the man put extra effort into dodging Nebin's strike, dodging into Hato's. He jabbed him in the leg before backing off, followed shortly by his teammates.

The Sound nin didn't seem to realize he had been injected with a chakra bomb, as he laughed at them. "See? Even three on one, you stand no chance!"

The team glanced at each other in amusement. As they looked back, the Oto shinobi's leg gave out beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap. A kunai flew out from the side, lodging directly in the center of the enemy's chest. The man gasped in pain before hyperventilating for a few seconds and falling silent.

Tenten and Neji landed in front of the trio. "Nice work, guys," said Tenten with a proud grin. She had been the one to finish off their foe, having realized that this was a full-scale battle. "We've succeeded in our assigned mission. Now, we need to help defend this village." She turned toward her husband. "How's it looking, honey?"

They all paused when they noticed how pale the elder Hyuuga was, his Byakugan activated. "Not good. All three gates, the main and the East and West gates, are all open and enemies are pouring in."

They all just stood there, the words sinking in.

They were truly under attack.

And quite clearly on the defensive.


	54. The Start of Battle

((Alright, I'm back! And starting up with some combat right out of the gate. I should enjoy writing these next few chapters. Please R&R.

On another note, I have an internship this summer, which is going take up a big chunk of my time (and why it took me so long to post this chapter). I'll still update this fic, but it might be two or three weeks between updates, rather than my usual weekly update. I am sorry, but my career is a little more important than writing fanfiction. Cheers.))

**The Start of Battle**

Rei jerked awake, flailing her arms in an attempt to ward off the cold water that had just been poured on her. She hissed violently, before curling in on herself, whimpering. She could feel her head beating against her skull. She knew she shouldn't have drunk so much of the punch.

"Come on, Rei, you've got to get yourself together. There's something going on out there."

Rei turned her eyes on the boy next to her, blinking against the light. When she finally managed to focus, Tounyo came into focus. She stared for a moment before her memory came back to her. She dropped her gaze in embarrassment, blushing bright red. She could feel his glare on her and only shrunk into herself even more.

She was startled when she felt him grab her under her arm and lift her toward the door. "We don't have time for this. Something serious is going on." Without letting her respond, he pulled her out the door and down the hall, back into the living room where the party had been taking place. She was surprised to note that most of the people had left. Had she been asleep for that long?

Tounyo walked the pair over to one of the few remaining adults, Shan's mother if Rei remembered correctly. "What happened?" asked Tounyo urgently, startling the woman slightly.

Mrs. Shan put a hand over her heart but responded as calmly as she could. "Three enemy ninja appeared in the front door and were quickly killed by the Konoha Twelve. They interrogated one and found out that Mist has allied with Sound and are attacking Konoha _now_."

Rei was having trouble keeping up, her head incredibly sore. She tried to focus on the conversation, blinking weakly.

"Where did everyone go?" Tounyo demanded.

The woman hesitated, trying to remember. "Some headed toward their compounds, a few went to spread the word to the ninja, and the rest went to stop the incoming armies."

Rei's eyes widened as her mind finally caught up, the realization quickly burning off her buzz and headache. "We're at war!" she turned to Tounyo frantically. "We have to get out there!" She grabbed his arms and started dragging him toward the door.

She stopped when she felt him resist. He pulled her around to face him. "We need a plan first. The others all left with an objective. We need one too, or we'll only be out there adding to the confusion."

Rei narrowed her eyes in frustration but paused to take a breath anyway, knowing he was right. "Alright, what do you suggest?"

Tounyo gave her a serious look. "From what I saw, their trying hardest to defend the village. Still, we need to start taking precautions in case the enemy does get in. We should start evacuating the civilians."

Rei grunted in irritation. That was a job for genin!

As if reading her mind, Tounyo continued. "When there are a few genin who know what's going on, we'll pass the job off onto them, but until then, someone needs to get started."

Still clearly irritated, the cat nin nodded. With that decided, Tounyo turned to the people that were left at the party, all no doubt civilians. "Alright, people! We need to start heading toward the safety of the Hokage Monument. We'll be gathering any civilians we come across to get them to safety as well." His announcement was met with silence. "If you all could start moving toward the doorway, we'll get you all to safety."

The remainder of the party started moving relatively quickly at that. Rei put a hand on Tounyo's shoulder as the people started gathering their rain gear, getting his attention. "I'll go wake the neighbors on the way there. Try to make it so that they're leaving as your group goes by."

Tounyo nodded approval of that plan. She was faster than him anyway, so she could move ahead more quickly. He watched her dart out the door, unable to help his eyes wandering to her rear before she disappeared from sight. With a slight blush, he turned back toward the civilians. He needed to focus on keeping them safe, not the puzzle that was his relationship with Rei.

That would have to wait for another time.

Hari darted through the streets, ignoring the rain as it pounded on his front, heading toward the Konoha Shinobi Barracks. He and Taru had quickly decided that he would head there while she went to the Hokage Tower and its carrier pigeons. He wasn't sure how much use they would be in this rough storm, but they _were_ trained to endure rough environments. If she could get there quickly, she would alert the majority of the ninja population using them, and the ninja within the Tower could also take up the defense of the city.

He was to alert the other large gathering of shinobi, likely before the pigeons could be sent out. Those two methods should alert any ninja in the village to the attack. Unfortunately, the sight of the birds would likely alert the intruders to their loss of the element of surprise. Nevertheless, it gave them the best chance of survival.

He was forced to dodge to the side, however, when he felt the chakra of a jutsu activate near him. He glared as a charge of electricity flowed through the water in the street, concentrated on where he would have been if he hadn't dodged. He glanced up and saw three ninja on the roof above him, two wearing Mist headbands and one with Sound. Probably a strike team sent in ahead of the rest of the army to slow Konoha's response to the attack. Hari scowled irritably. He didn't have time to deal with this.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked the one in front, a Kiri nin with a rebreather on his face, making his voice seem somewhat hollow.

The Leaf shinobi just rolled his eyes. "None of your business, asshole. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do have important business to attend to." He shifted his weight as if to Shunshin farther down the street away from them.

However, he Shunshined behind the back two nin and stabbed at the left one with a kunai. His bluff must've paid off because the front enemy was gone, probably to cut him off, and the other two were slow enough that he managed to cut a deep gash in the side of his first target.

The man grunted in pain and jumped back out of reach as his companion pulled out a short sword and engaged Kizui in melee.

With his focus on speed, Hari was able to keep up with his opponent in the short exchange, even though he could tell the man was a jounin, a rank above him. Hari was forced to back off when the leader rejoined the battle with a volley of shuriken.

The Konoha nin landed on the street below and scowled. He knew he couldn't outrun these men; they were all jounin. Similarly, his chances of beating them were slim. He couldn't even hide from them because he was already seen. There was only one conclusion he could come to.

He was completely screwed.

He had no clue what to do.

He wasn't given much of a choice when the three enemies appeared around him, surrounding him. He scowled. The one in front of him smirked at him arrogantly. All three started hand seals at the same time. Hari cursed, starting on his own.

The three foes finished at nearly the same time.

"Raiton: Supea Raikou no Jutsu!" (Lightning Style: Lightning Javelin Jutsu)

"Suiton: Gogyou Otaki no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Cascading Water Jutsu)

"Suiton: Mizugai no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Scythe Jutsu)

Hari finished half a moment later, before the techniques could strike. "Doton: Tsuchi Shouheki no Jutsu!" (Earth Style: Earth Barrier Jutsu) A circular wall of earth rose up around him, blocking all sides around him.

The blade of water and spear of lightning sent by the first and third enemies collided with the barrier, sending pieces of earth flying, but the shield held. However, the wave of water that poured over the top of his defensive jutsu and crashed down on top of him, crushing him against the floor beneath him. He tried to groan in pain, but only received a mouthful of water for his effort.

Coughing, he allowed his jutsu to die down, the earth shield dropping back into the ground. He climbed to his feet, trying to control his lungs and still ready to continue fighting. Luckily, he quickly realized that he didn't have to, as none of his foes moved in to engage him while he was weak. He glanced around and noticed that all three enemies had engaged members of the ANBU black ops. Another member landed next to him. "The ANBU are already moving. Keep moving, soldier, and inform the rest of the ninja corps."

Eyes wide, Hari nodded. The ANBU leapt away, moving to assist one of his comrades. He paused only long enough to ensure that the ANBU held the advantage, before moving back to his initial objective. The ANBU captain was right; he had to get the rest of the Konoha ninja moving.

Hitayio landed next to Kiba-sensei, who rode Akamaru, on top of the tallest building in the area and stopped. Chouji-san stood next to them as Hotaru joined them, eyes widening when she caught sight of what they were staring at.

The West Gate, not 200 feet away, was wide open, and enemy ninja were pouring in.

Kiba snarled angrily. "We have to delay them so that the rest of our forces can become active." He glanced at the male chuunin. "Use it, Hitayio."

The black haired teen raised an eyebrow. "I'll kill everything within a hundred yards."

His sensei's eyes darkened. "They'll die anyway, at this rate," he said, motioning toward the enemy. The teen glanced and saw a wave of water crash into one of the buildings, crushing it, the steady pounding of the rain almost drowning out the resulting screams. Hitayio grimaced.

"Hea Gaishi no Jutsu" (Insulating Hair Jutsu) Hitayio turned in time to see Akamaru's fur fluff up in a sort of barrier. The teen vaguely noted that Hotaru and Chouji had moved off to engage foes that had strayed too far away from their companions. "Go ahead and start the jutsu," commanded Kiba, grabbing him under the arms and lifting him onto Akamaru's back. "Akamaru'll get you to the middle of the enemies." At Hitayio's look, he continued, "Don't worry about him. His fur will make your jutsu nothing more than a tingle."

Nodding his understanding, Hitayio started the hand seals. He felt a shiver run down his spine as Akamaru began to move. He didn't often get the chance to use this jutsu; it was just so dangerous. It sent a spike of pleasure and adrenalin through his body.

He felt Akamaru jerk to a stop as he ran through the last few seals, his waist length hair starting to rise around him. The Kiri and Oto nin nearby paused, surprised by the sudden appearance of an adversary in their midst; only one had the presence of mind to attack and even his was still too slow.

"Raiton: Bakufu Laputa no Jutsu!" (Thunder Style: Laputa Falls) Hitayio's hair instantly stood on end, creating a spiked sphere around his head that served to channel an extremely intense burst of electricity. The jutsu, normally with a range of around a hundred feet, flowed through the massive amounts of water in the surrounding area, almost tripling in range. Everything within the radius of a football stadium felt 50 thousand volts flow through them. Only the rain prevented the intense smell of burnt flesh from speading rapidly.

However, the enemy _were_ ninja and only about half of them were taken out; the others used earth, water, and wind jutsu to ground the pulse of energy. He had taken out fifty percent of the enemy but was now surrounded on all sides, with more foes pouring in at every moment.

Akamaru, not wasting a second, darted back toward the other Konoha nin. When one foe moved to make a slash at the pair, Akamaru dodged out of the way with a jerk, forcing Hitayio to grab his fur to stay on. The second one that attempted to intercept them had a kunai jammed into his rib, courtesy of Kiba. The trio fell back, landing next to Hotaru and Chouji.

"There are too many of them!" shouted Kiba with a snarl. "We need reinforcements! We have to retreat!" Hitayio snarled angrily. A group of Mist nin leapt toward them, weapons drawn.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" (Partial Expansion Jutsu) Chouji's arm grew to nearly the width of the street, and he thrust it forward, knocking all four enemies back forcefully. When he pulled back, he had small cuts along his palm, but nothing he couldn't ignore.

"Hotaru, cover our retreat!" They all leapt away, Hotaru running through some quick seals.

"Seireishiryoku Shuudan no Jutsu" (Mass Spirit Sight Jutsu) Hitayio glanced over his shoulder and saw many of the invaders pausing, a few trying to dispel a genjutsu, no doubt seeing the many spirits throughout the area. The four Leaf nin and one dog moved on, looking for a location of temporary safety while they waited for assistance.

Naruto stared at the main gate as it was flooded by enemies, his anger slowly growing. He noted, vaguely, the messenger bird flying overhead through the rain, letting the other Konoha ninja know they were under attack. No, his attention was more on the second gate guard, the first of which had already been slain. Naruto would have to help him or the other guard would be a goner, too. He had to pull their attention…

Naruto flared his considerable chakra, letting some of the demon's chakra join his. All of the invaders hesitated half a second as they turned toward the blonde, a number of them in slight shock. The guard took this opportunity to jam a kunai between a foe's ribs and leapt back to join Naruto.

"Thanks, Naruto-sempai. I needed that." The blonde nodded, keeping his eyes on the approaching foes.

"I'm glad you could stay alive long enough for me to help, Aitaro-san." He was glad to note that a team of four ANBU had appeared behind them. "I hope you're ready for a real fight."

Kaji Aitaro stared ahead, eyes cold. "Aye."

"Good." As he finished talking, an enemy flared his chakra almost as strongly as Naruto had. Even the ANBU behind Naruto took a step back, although the blonde couldn't help a small grin. He would be able to take out one of the strongest foes already, and work out some of the anger from the destruction of the Hyuuga compound to boot.

He raised his eyes to that opponent. He was a man with white hair in a mane around his head to his shoulders and tanned smooth skin. His muscles were lean but clearly strong as he raised a double-bladed sword almost as large as him over his shoulder. Each blade of the sword had indents making it look like an extended, sharp fork, causing it to dig into the man's shoulder slightly.

The two met eyes and started walking toward each other purposefully. Those around them made sure to get out of the way of the two superpowers. As they drew near, the pair darted forward, Naruto drawing a kunai to match blades with his foe. The pair clashed in a shower of chakra speaks.

"Uzumaki Naruto of the Konoha Twelve, you are _mine_!"

Naruto stared before finally recognizing the man from his bingo book. "Hanto of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

Hanto gave him a feral grin. "Spin, Konbou." The two-bladed sword began to spin on its hilt, immediately beginning to cut through Naruto's kunai. Eyes wide, Naruto leapt back. He glared at his foe, glancing once at his kunai, now only a handle. Naruto scowled irritably.

"Fine then, let's see whose rotation is stronger." He held his hand in front of him and allowed a ball of swirling blue energy to form there. A moment later, he pumped his wind chakra into it, turning it a green color.

His opponent gave him a confident smirk. "I had wanted to test my blade against the infamous Rasengan. Looks like I'll get my chance." With that, there was a pulse of chakra as he pumped more of it into the sword, causing it to rotate even faster.

Naruto let his own chakra free, flowing from him with enough force to stop everyone around them, before charging forward. Hanto only stood there, ready to strike back. As he approached, Naruto pushed his Rasengan forward and the swordsman thrust his blade back against it. The spinning sword and rotating sphere connected with a blast of energy so powerful that it threw everyone off balance. A wave of smoke followed, blocking everything in the block from view.

As the dust cleared, a voice rang out among the silence. "Yours may have been more focused, but mine was more powerful." Naruto's form appeared from the dust clouds, unmarked except for his hand, which was held at his side bleeding profusely. His opponent didn't look nearly as good. Hanto had only his torso and sword-arm still intact; the rest was gone, obliterated by the energy from the full-power Rasengan swirling outward and around the blade. What was left of the corpse lay on the ground, blood flowing from the numerous stumps.

Naruto turned toward the gate, the blood flow from his hand already slowing. "Alright, who's next?"

Tsunade moved across the rooftops of Konoha quickly. She had to get to the Konoha hospital and get it prepared to take on the large numbers of patients it would no doubt be receiving shortly. She would make sure the hospital was ready for it. They would lose too many lives if they didn't prepare.

She heard a scream from nearby. As a doctor, she couldn't very well leave someone in need of help when she could be there. Especially if the man was injured. Besides, the hospital would be made aware shortly if Rei and Hari were successful in their endeavors.

She switched directions to assist, increasing speed when she heard another scream, this one female and oddly recognizable to the Godaime.

As she approached, she saw one form hunched over on a roof, blood pooling around it. She could see two other enemies engaged in combat a short distance away. Tsunade quickly recognized the injured form on the roof in front of her.

She landed and immediately started a diagnosis jutsu. Her hands glowed green as she knelt beside the ANBU member. "It's alright, Yuugao-san, you should be fine." She quickly healed the large gash across the woman's chest, ignoring the unresponsive look in her eyes. She had to ensure she had healed any internal injuries, so it took longer than she had hoped. Yuugao gasped as she regained feeling in her body before falling unconscious from the pain.

Just as she finished mending the wound, she sensed a person, the winner of the melee she had seen earlier, approaching her position. She looked up in time to see a woman she didn't recognize carrying a body of one of the junior ANBU members. The woman dropped the ANBU member next to her, flashing her Kiri hitai-ate. Tsunade made sure not to show how ready she was to move.

The woman had a thin, athletic form with a body suit hugging it. Her smooth skin and relatively short black hair would have been attractive to many men. However, to Tsunade it only meant that her enemy relied largely upon speed to win. She didn't even seem to have any kunai pouches except for a small bag on her back.

She was mildly surprised when the woman took a few steps back and motioned Tsunade to heal the injured man she had been holding. The Godaime slowly approached, being careful to leave herself enough time to respond if the enemy decided to strike. Bending down with the woman a short distance away, Tsunade got to work healing the young ANBU agent.

The two were silent aside from the heavy pounding of the rain. It was only a shallow stab wound and a couple cuts along his limbs, so it didn't take too long. The young ANBU member had been aware enough to tell her that his other companion had fallen between buildings, his heart punctured before any of them had even known there was an enemy nearby. That said something about the enemy's skill, to be able to hide from ANBU, at least one of them well trained.

As Tsunade was finishing up, surprised her foe had actually given her the time to heal an ally, the woman decided to finally pull her attention by speaking. "You know, Hokage-sama, the Mizukage was overthrown less than two weeks ago."

Tsunade eyed her cautiously. She had heard rumors of such a thing, but it had not been confirmed. Perhaps this woman didn't actually want to fight but was only following orders. The Godaime asked the woman as such.

The woman only grinned impishly, pulling her bag around to her front. She began digging around in the bag as she spoke. "Silly woman," she said, pulling out a thin blue and white slip, which she began to unfold. As she finished, she placed it on her head, causing Tsunade's eyes to go wide. "I _am_ the new Mizukage."


	55. Betrayal

((Okay, guys, I know I was a bit late, and I'm sure you're disappointed that my updates won't be as frequent as normal, but 2 reviews? Seriously? I thank the two people who did review, but if this keeps up, I may not keep writing this. I have other ideas for stories I could be writing instead. To those of you that have bothered to keep following this story, I apologize for this being so late, but my internship has taken a lot out of me. Haven't felt like doing much of anything…

It should also be noted that I forgot that Tsunade was shown in the Pain invasion arc doing what she would do in times of invasion (AKA summoning Katsuya), so I'll go back and edit that at some point.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and R&R))

**Betrayal**

Hinata observed the three enemy ninja as they stood in the wreckage of her former home, now with only a few walls half standing. She wanted badly to help pull her clanmates from the wreckage, but she knew it would only be counter-productive if they were ambushed while she did so. She had to take out these enemies before she did anything else.

Luckily, they hadn't noticed her yet, something she planned to take advantage of. They wouldn't destroy her home and get away with it.

As they continued talking, she Shunshin'ed behind the nearest one. The other two foes reacted almost instantly, leaping away. The third, who had his back to her, wasn't quite as quick and only managed to half-dodge out of the way of her Jyuuken strike. The man landed on wobbly legs from the hit to his side, coughing up a small amount of blood.

The foes didn't bother regrouping, instead choosing to use their positions to create a half-circle around their new adversary, even if one of their flanks was weak. The one on her left spoke, drawing her attention.

"So, it looks like one of the white-eyed scum survived. Let's kill her and then move on to the Aburame compound. If they don't have their trackers, they can't find us in our mist."

The enemy in the middle interrupted before the other ninja could leap to the attack. "Sir, that is Hyuuga Hinata, head of the Hyuuga clan. We can't underestimate her, especially since she already injured San-kun."

The other enemy paused, drawing up to his full height appraisingly. "Really now? Guess this'll be more of a challenge than I thought."

Hinata, of course, hadn't wasted any of the time that these men were chatting amongst themselves. They just hadn't realized it yet.

Instead, the leader started forward, kunai in hand. One of his companions started a set of hand seals for a jutsu, while the other tried to recover enough to assist in melee combat, failing rather spectacularly as he fell on his face. The leader was startled when he swung and his foe, showing speed far beyond anything he had ever seen, managed to get behind him when he was less than halfway through his attack. Before he had even finished, he was jabbed in the back of the neck with a focused Jyuuken blast, severing all nerve impulses between his brain and the rest of his body. Instantly, he was on the ground, slowly dying as his heart lost control and ceased functioning.

Realizing his boss had been, at the very least, incapacitated, the other team member quickly sped through the remaining seals. He finished just as she began to turn in his direction. "Suiton: Kadoutorappingu no Jutsu." (Water Style: Trapping Vortex Jutsu) With a quick motion, he gathered the water on the ground and air around his opponent and swirled it around his foe in a rising motion, moving to engulf the woman.

Immediately, she leapt to the side to get out of it. The Mist nin quickly moved his jutsu to follow her. He had never seen an enemy actually make it out of that jutsu before, so when she did, he knew something was wrong. His eyes narrowed as he brought his hands up to form a single sign. "Kai!" He knew he had made the right decision when he felt his normal functions return to him.

Hinata frowned as she stared at her foe. He had figured out the genjutsu, designed to subtly reduce their reaction times enough for it to seem like she was moving at almost inhuman speeds, even for a ninja, and dispelled it. He may not have been the leader, but he was definitely the smartest among them. She ignored his one remaining companion as he tried to get up, only to fall down and empty his stomach.

She wasted no time in moving in on him, not even pausing to deflect the kunai he threw with a Jyuuken powered hand. He pulled out a short staff and went on the defensive. Clearly, he knew he couldn't let himself get hit. He blocked blow after blow until finally she made a slight overextension, allowing him to attempt to swing down at her with the base of his staff.

With a push of chakra through her legs, she propelled herself at an angle, twisting her body so that the staff barely missed her. She was knocked even further off balance when the impact of the staff against the earth caused a crack in the ground, solidly planting the weapon there. Unfortunately, this kept her off balance long enough for him to leap away, putting his staff between him and the Hyuuga.

Without wasting any time, Hinata hopped over the staff, which was stuck like a pole in the ground, and rushed her foe. He wasn't a close-range fighter, so she intended to take advantage of her clan's special Taijutsu. However, the Mist nin beat her to the punch by running through a quick set of seals before she was even halfway to him. She tried to spin out of the way, but the arc of lightning that traveled between him and his staff was too quick, shocking her entire body on its trip.

She fell to the ground gasping. Her opponent didn't give her any reprieve as he started on another set of seals, this one much longer, no doubt thinking she was helpless due to the electric jolt jarring her nerves. Which would have been true, except for one little thing…

She was a Hyuuga. And the wife of Uzumaki Naruto.

She had long since learned from him that she could use her insane chakra control to create a burst of chakra that would counteract the effects of many things, including her own clans taijutsu style.

And the jarring of the nerves due to electricity.

He finished the seals just as she got to her feet weakly. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the jutsu. Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu). The water near her foe coalesced into a dragon and quickly rushed at her. With renewed determination, she set her feet. "Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō" (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)

Moving her palms at near lightning speed, she created a barrier using the sharp laser of chakra coming from her palm mere moments before she was struck by the jutsu. The dragon crashed into her, none of its form penetrating through her defensive stance. Before the entire dragon was past her, she leapt forward, using her foe's lack of vision to her advantage, despite receiving a few cuts in the process.

The man's eyes were wide as she landed in front of him and jabbed out. The Kiri nin was so stunned that he didn't even try to dodge the blow to his heart. Her enemy crumpled at her feet, instantly on the path to dying.

She turned around, intent on finished off the last remaining foe and move on to help her clan, only to see another form already standing over him, standing from where it had delivered a finishing Jyuuken strike to him. She scowled angrily at the form.

"You!"

The figure, clothed in the robes of a Hyuuga main branch member, turned its white eyes on its clan head. As he spoke, Hinata caught sight of other chakra sources, Hyuuga if the concentrations of chakra in the eyes were any indication.

"Don't want any interruptions while we discuss the future of the Hyuuga clan, do we, Hinata-_sama_?"

Taru watched as a Konoha ninja released about ten messenger pigeons from near the roof of the Hokage Tower, Hana, the tiger now grown to the size of a large dog, stood beside her vigilantly. She had gotten here as quickly as she could to spread word. Even now, she could see the enemies pouring in through the gates. At least the rest of the ninja corps would be active now.

"Taru-san!" She turned at the voice, seeing three Konoha shinobi waiting for her, only one of which she recognized. "Name's Hagane Kotetsu," spoke the one in the middle, with spiked black hair, a patch on his chin, and a bandage across his nose, Honoha hitai-ate on his forehead. "This is Kamizuki Izumo." He motioned to the one on his left, who had a bandana wrapped around his head with dark brown hair jutting out in front of one of his eyes. "And I'm sure you remember your academy instructor, Umino Iruka." Iruka gave her a nod, the normally kind-hearted man dead serious.

Taru gave them all a nod, stepping forward.

"You're joining us for the time being. We're to be clearing the paths for the civilians."

"Are they really already that far in?" asked Taru.

The group turned toward the door, ready to start leaping through the streets. "Unfortunately, yes. There have been a lot that travelled in with the rain once they knew activating the barrier around the village wouldn't matter. They've been appearing in teams all across the village."

As they walked out of the Hokage Tower, a sensor ninja standing by the door spoke. "Three heading our way from the east."

The four nodded in understanding before stepping out and darting in that direction. Not fifteen seconds later, they came across a group moving toward the Tower.

There was no pause, there were no words, the two groups just engaged. Kotetsu engaged the first enemy with a kunai blade from his back, locking blades in the middle. A moment later, Izumo kicked that enemy in the chest, grabbing the second kunai blade, connected to the first by a length of chain, from Kotetsu's back.

Taru and Hana each stopped in front of a foe, effectively blocking them off. Only one of them moved forward to engage Taru; the other pulled back, starting a jutsu. Iruka stepped between Hana and the other foe, allowing the cat to circle around and flank the Mist nin facing Taru. Working together, the two of them put her foe on the defensive, moving in quick circles around him so that he had no way of escaping.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Iruka in a jutsu duel with his kunoichi foe, as he put up a mud wall to stop a swirling vortex of water. This rain, though mostly just annoying, did power up their water jutsu, which was a pain. It didn't affect her combat techniques too much; she just had to be a little more careful of her footing.

In fact, about a minute into their melee, a substantial length of time for a shinobi battle, her opponent actually slipped because of the water (how he could do that when he was from Kirigakure, she didn't know). She immediately took advantage of it to jam a clawed hand into his chest. But instead of a rib cage, she felt the body give underneath her, almost like the rain around her. The Mist nin smirked at her before falling into a puddle of water. A Water Clone.

Taru turned just in time to see a kunai wielding hand approach her chest. Her eyes widened; there was nothing she could do to stop it!

But instead of being stabbed, she saw a glint of metal move along the opponent's arm, a chain quickly following after. With a splash of blood, the Kiri shinobi's arm was severed from his body, screaming in pain. Not a moment later, the man was encircled by a length of chain with a blade sticking out of his chest.

The body fell limp in front of Taru. A second later, the body erupted in a shower of blood as Kotetsu and Izumo ripped the chain through the body, pulling it free. Taru, now slightly covered in the red liquid, despite the rain, turned toward the two with a grateful look. Izumo, from his position on the side, gave her a nod, showing that he was the one to have cut off the enemy's arm and save her.

"Let's go help Iruka and keep moving," said Kotetsu, his face deadly serious.

The other two nodded, moving to ambush their last foe.

Taka kicked an opponent in the side, stopping his rush at Katame; having mastered her clan's Usagi Isshiki no Jutsu (Rabbit of the Zodiac Jutsu), it was significantly more powerful than a normal kick. This allowed Katame to finish her seals and blast a fireball, though a tad weakened by the rain, at another pair of enemies. Both dodged out of the way.

Before one of them could land, Rock Lee appeared behind him with a kick to the back, causing a vicious cracking noise to resound about the area. The foe shouted in pain, crumpling to the ground. Another scream sounded from nearby, as another ninja was covered in black bugs and completely sucked dry of chakra.

The two remaining enemies regrouped a distance away and quickly retreated. Taka scowled, starting to give chase. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to find Shino-sensei staring at her from behind his sunglasses. He shook his head. "They'll only lead us to their comrades and an ambush. Better to move on."

Frowning irritably, she nodded. "But, sensei, why are they even attacking us? We've had peace in the shinobi world for nearly twenty years! Why start war again now?"

Having spent so much time with him, she could sense the grimace behind his high collar, even if she couldn't see it. "I don't know, Taka. It doesn't make sense."

Lee landed next to them, a frown marring his features. "Some people just can't take the calm of peace. I just never thought that it would get to Mizukage-sama like that."

Taka scowled. She had considered that woman a pretty good role model. Clearly, she had been wrong. Katame joined them, her eyes narrowed in slight confusion.

"What happened to Magusa-san?" she asked just loud enough to be heard over the rain. Taka's eyes widened. That's right, Magusa was a Mist ninja. Was she in on this? And if not, how would she react? Would she join her home village or stick with Konoha? She _had_ been here for nearly two years as the correspondent.

And would she really betray Hari like that?

"It doesn't matter," stated Shino calmly. "She can decide for herself what she will do. I can assure you, however, that she did not expect this. Her posture was as surprised as the rest of us."

Taka was always unnerved by how easily her sensei could read her. At least this time she was being reassured. She sensed some enemy ninja round a corner down the street and turned at the same time as the rest of the team.

She would worry about Magusa later. For now, she needed to defend her village.

But she couldn't help the thought that went through her mind before she moved to engage the foe.

"_Sokudo-kun…"_

Magusa stared at East Gate as it was overrun by her kinsman, her body too stunned to move, even as other Mist nin jumped past her. They could clearly see the headband around her neck, so they didn't attack her at all.

"_Why?"_ she thought in desperation.

She had spent nearly 2 years in and out of Konoha, so of course she had become slightly detached from her fellow nin, but did they really not trust her enough to tell her about an invasion?

No, she supposed they didn't, and probably with good reason. She had never been too attached to her fellow ninja in Mist; they were all too brutal and heartless, as they were largely trained to be.

But that wasn't her style. She cared about human life. And she was glad for the Mizukage trying to change things in the village, but with so many of her ninja already trained that way, and training their own students similarly, there was only so much she could do. She had been lucky to get Subaya-sensei; he was one of the few jounin who thought similarly to her.

But as close as she was to him, he had always had more of a focus on Sokudo, reasonable considering he was his grandson. And since Sokudo had been the only one from her class she would even consider friendly that actually made it to the ninja force, he had quickly become her best friend. However, though they would tease each other incessantly, neither had any desire to date.

No, that had come when she had met Hari. The initial attraction, though strong, had nothing on the time they had spent together while she was in Konoha, and she had no doubt that she would love to date the man. She just had to convince him to make the first move.

Besides that, she had met so many shinobi in the Leaf Village that held human life in high regard, and they had much calmer, albeit a little crazy, personalities. She liked all of the people from Hari's year and had developed a friendship with quite a few of them. Hell, she was closer to them than almost anyone from Kiri.

So, she supposed she really wasn't all that surprised by the lack of trust in her. It wasn't like she kept her preference for Konoha a secret from the other ninja.

But that brings to question, does she really want to stay a ninja from Kirigakure?

Sure, if it was just a matter of which style of shinobi she liked more and would prefer to be a part of, then it would be Konoha in a second.

But this was a lot more complicated than that.

She had a family she was supposed to go home to, a family that she loved and wanted to be able to go back to. Plus, what would happen to her dog? Her mother was taking care of it now, but neither her mother nor father particularly cared for the animal.

Heck, what would happen to her family as a whole? If she joined Konoha, some Mist shinobi wouldn't hesitate to use her family members as hostages to force her to their side. She really didn't want to put them in danger like that.

But she also knew that they would understand. They had always known that becoming a shinobi was a dangerous life, but they had pushed her to do so. Her mother may even get a thrill out of the experience of being a hostage…

Most of her true friends belonged to Konoha, and they treated her very well.

Now the question was, did her loyalty to the village outweigh her loyalty to her friends?

She knew the answer without even having to think about it. Taka, Rei, Taru, Hitayio, Hotaru, Katame, Tounyo, Kizui, Hinashin, Shan, Rokuden, Koukatsu, Nebin, Hato.

Hari.

She suddenly found herself next to the switch that controlled the Konoha East Gate, unsure of how she had gotten there. Yet, she knew what she had to do. She knew she would still be treated as an enemy of the military initially, but she didn't care.

This was what she needed.

She went through a quick set of seals. Suiton: Bensouzumaki no Jutsu (Water Style: Whirlpool Defense Jutsu) The water around her lifted up and began swirling around her at an incredible speed, reaching as high as the gate walls just a few feet away, and keeping her untouched in the middle of the defensive jutsu.

The technique pulled in the rain as it fell, stopping it from falling on the young woman.

This made her tears clear for any who could see her, her soft purple eyes swollen red. She pulled the hitai-ate from her neck and held it in front of her. Muffling a sob, she pulled out a kunai.

With a quick jerk, the headband had a new scar running right along the middle of the Mist symbol, tears falling onto the piece of metal.

With jerky unfeeling movements, she tied to hitai-ate back around her neck.

Then, taking a deep breath, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and put her hand over the switch.

Then, eyes shining with new determination, she pushed down.

The East Gates snapped shut with a crash.


	56. Hokage Battle

((I seriously apologize for how late this chapter is. Between my internship and keeping up a relationship, I've had practically no free time. I was hoping to finish the invasion this summer, but it's not looking like I'll be able to. I hope this chapter is intense enough to make up for it.))

**Hokage Battle**

Neji, who was moving toward the East Gate, stopped suddenly. His wife, son, Shan, and Hato landed beside him, all but his son looking at him in confusion. The one thing they all noticed was that his Byakugan enhanced eyes were wide in surprise. "What's wrong, honey?" asked Tenten with some trepidation.

It was Nebin who answered for him. "The East Gate has been closed and there is a giant vortex of water surrounding the gate controls."

Neji continued in a more commanding tone. "Someone's closed the gate and using a lot of chakra to keep it that way. We have to get there to help." With that he took off at an even faster rate, actually leaving behind everyone but his wife. The others, he could see with his Byakugan, were moving after them but couldn't quite manage the same speed as the two elite jounin.

It wasn't long before the pair of them came across a few Mist nin, who seemed to have taken up defensive positions around the vortex. Neji could see with his Byakugan that there was a small squad of enemies trying to figure out a way into the vortex. He and Tenten took out the men stationed between them and the vortex as quickly as they could, giving their team enough time to catch up to them.

Just as his team landed behind him, the vortex of water became a giant cylinder of ice. Neji could see a number of ninja standing by a small opening in the ice and scowled. He turned to his team. "Tenten, I'm going to need your strongest area-of-effect jutsu ASAP."

The woman nodded and pulled out four scrolls, running some blood from a cut on her arm across them and tossing them up into the air. She remained stationary as an enormous cloud of sharp and pointy objects were released from them almost instantly. Only the two Hyuuga there could see the chakra strings being attached to her fingers as all of them formed. "Sōshōryūrashi no Jutsu" (Rising Dragon Storm Jutsu)

As she performed her jutsu, Neji looked back at the younger generation. "We're moving in as soon as it's clear. Nebin, Shan, and Tenten will create a choke-point out of the small entrance. Me and Hato will move in to defend whoever is keeping that gate closed." He paused to make sure all of them were listening. "No matter what, that gate does not get re-opened. Keeping it closed will allow Konoha to send our troops to the other two gates. Got it?"

"Hai!" chorused the group.

With his Byakugan, Neji saw his wife finish her jutsu, the weapons she had been swinging around the area with the chakra strings slowly falling to the ground and the explosions from her tags settled. "Move out!" he commanded, before the dust had even settled. The group disappeared in a set of Shunshin.

Tsunade leapt back to put some distance between herself and the self-proclaimed new Mizukage, taking the injured ANBU with her. She immediately set him down, never taking her eyes off of her new opponent. "What do you mean, you're the Mizukage?"

The woman gave a light laugh, covering her mouth with a hand daintily. "Did you really think that Terumi would withdraw her forces into secrecy the way I did? Or that she would attack Konoha unprovoked?" She shook her head sadly. "No. That woman was way too soft for the position of Mizukage. Much like you are for Konoha."

Her eyes darkened, glaring at the Godaime Hokage. "So, I plan to do the same thing to you that I did to her." Tsunade raised an eyebrow, not bothering to voice her obvious question. The other woman grinned viciously. "Kill you."

Tsunade gritted her teeth, cursing. Terumi had been the best Mizukage for the Leaf ever. It was the first time they had managed to obtain relatively smooth relations with the other ninja village. If she was dead and this woman was now in charge…

This would be the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Tsunade knew she was getting old. She would never admit it aloud, but there was no avoiding that fact. And this woman, clearly trained for speed, would have a distinct advantage over her. She may be able to keep up with the enemy for a while, but she would tire quickly. She had to stall and hope for assistance from other Konoha shinobi.

"Why?" she asked vehemently. "You know we will only find another Hokage." An image of a younger blonde ninja appeared in her mind. "One much younger and more well equipped to defend the position, but with the same kind-heartedness that he re-awakened within me."

The Mizukage sneered. "You don't get it, do you? This isn't just another one-day invasion like the Sound-Sand attack all those years ago. This is going to start the next Great Shinobi War. You will no doubt repel us, but we will hamper your numbers greatly, and I will kill you. Konohagakure may find another Hokage, but unless they can unanimously agree upon someone immediately, it will cause your forces to be in such disarray that picking them apart will be easy."

Tsunade shook her head. "You underestimate the Will of Fire." She felt a burning determination surge through her. She wouldn't be able to heal the Leaf forces and save the hundreds of lives she had planned to, but she could take out this enemy and cause a quick end to this senseless war.

And she would live.

She would live and declare Naruto as her successor. Konoha would not be without a leader.

The woman scowled. "You're just like that bitch, Terumi. Always so caring and sure of your village's support." Then, her expression suddenly changed to an arrogant smirk. "I'm just glad that I, Kenpei Ueru, get to be the one to kill you."

With hardly a change in stance, Ueru disappeared in a flash of speed. Tsunade barely had time to shift to the side and avoid the initial slash from the blade the Mizukage had pulled from her back. Not giving the Hokage any time to recover, Ueru pushed forward with two more horizontal swings, forcing Tsunade back. The Godaime Hokage drew a kunai and blocked the next attack, moving to swing a fist at her foe. However, Ueru twisted her sword to push the kunai into the attacking fist, knocking the Hokage off-balance.

Tsunade recovered and swung around, fist flying out in a broad arc. The other woman jumped back, putting some distance between them. She smirked as she saw the older woman clutch at the new gash in her side, having taken advantage of her opponent's loss of balance. "You're time is through, grandma. We, the younger generation, are taking over."

Tsunade only glared, a green glowing hand healing her wound. As she was healing, she paused momentarily to cast a quick genjutsu on her opponent. She scowled when the woman dispelled it with hardly a thought. Once healed, the Godaime stood tall before dropping into a battle stance. She made a come hither motion with her hand, one that the Mizukage gladly accommodated. The woman was definitely faster than Tsunade, but all she had to do was get one solid hit in and the fight would be over.

Ueru flashed around the Hokage, keeping her constantly on the defensive. There were no decisive blows, however, only minor cuts on Tsunade's arms and torso. Eventually, Ueru grew irritated and hopped back, starting hand seals. Tsunade, though rather weak in the area of non-medical ninjutsu, started a set of seals of her own.

Ueru finished first. "Suiton: Yasui no Jutsu" (Water Style: Water Arrows Jutsu) The rain around her, which Tsunade now realized had small traces of her chakra coated within it, coalesced into more than a dozen pointed arrows that darted at Tsunade. The Hokage finished her seals as they were approaching.

"Doton: Doroku Gaeshi" (Earth Style: Terra Shield) A large shield shaped piece of earth rose to cut off the arrows. She heard a number of thunks before feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen. With wide eyes, she turned her head to see Ueru standing there with her sword buried in the Hokage's back. The Mizukage smirked and pulled her sword free, causing Tsunade to fall flat, her legs giving out underneath her. Moving her arms down, the Hokage quickly realized that she had cut a nerve in her back, cutting off the nerves to her legs.

"I told you," said Ueru darkly, "this is our time." She raised her sword for a beheading slash.

Unfortunately for her, when she raised her arms out of a defensive stance, Tsunade's ever powerful fist spun and connected solidly with her torso, caving her chest cavity, not even allowing her startled gasp out, and sending her body flying into a nearby building.

Tsunade rose, the mark on her forehead fading as a large seal spread across her body, the wounds across it healing, her Sozo Saisei (Creation Rebirth) taking effect. She glared at the hole created by the body, having no doubt that she had just killed the woman. "That is where you are wrong."

With a confident stance, she turned toward where she had previously been heading. Even without her Sozo Saisei, she still had chakra she could use to heal the ninja of her village.

Then, she felt a dark, overwhelming chakra burst from where Ueru's body remained, emitting enough killer intent to even make her take a step away. She spun around and saw the corrupt black aura, very reminiscent of a blond hyperactive ninja of her own. In the middle of it, Tsunade saw Ueru standing with her eyes a pitch black.

Tsunade knew she was in trouble then. "Crap."

Rei landed in front of Tounyo, who led the group of civilians they had collected. A half second later, a group of three twelve and thirteen year olds landed behind her.

"These guys are here to take over for us," she said with a serious but clearly satisfied voice. Just as she finished speaking, he saw her tense. He looked into her eyes, which she twitched in the direction behind him.

He frowned, turning in that direction. "Just in time, it would seem." He went through a quick set of seals. "Doton: Kabeyurasu no Jutsu" (Earth Style: Rock Wall Jutsu) A massive wall of rock rose out of the ground behind the citizens, who suddenly became startled. "Keep the civilians moving toward the Hokage Monument. We'll take care of these guys." Seeing a nod out of the corner of his eye, he leapt up to land on top of his rock wall. A second later, Rei and Masaru, her panther, joined him.

The pair looked down at a quad of Mist ninja, who stared up at them, seemingly unaffected by the rain landing in their eyes. "How you wanna do this?" asked Tounyo quietly.

Rei glanced at him but kept most of her attention on the enemies in front of her. "Well, you know I'm best at working with Masaru. If you can take two of them and just stall, we should be able to take the other two and come help you."

He gave her a slight smirk. "Confident, aren't we?" He saw her lips quirk to a slight grin, even if her eyes didn't move. "I think I can do that. Doubt I can do much more though. I already used up about a fourth of my chakra on this wall."

They were pulled out of their conversation when two giant water dragons charged at their positions, forcing them to leap to some nearby roofs. Tounyo was only slightly surprised when two of the enemy landed in front of him, one already moving to engage.

He knew he had the disadvantage where he couldn't touch the earth with his feet. He was an earth affinity after all, and there was a reason he didn't often wear shoes. He performed a quick substitution with what was left of his rock wall, landing on the road down below. His two foes followed after.

All he had to do was stall. He didn't have to use his rather chakra consuming techniques. Just delay until Rei got there to help him.

He got into a defensive stance, pulling out a kunai to counter the large sword his opponent wielded. He deflected the first two blows before realizing that his foe was faster than he was. He fell back on the defensive, pulling out a second kunai to better deflect with, even though this meant he didn't have much in the way of offense given his fighting style.

It didn't much matter because as the sword wielding foe rushed him, he felt the chakra of a jutsu. He didn't have time to react before a pillar of water rose beneath him, engulfing him and pulling him into the air. He floated in the rising water, trying to regain his sense of balance.

As he righted himself, he saw the blade wielding ninja charging his way through the water, almost unimpeded. Clearly, this was a strategy the pair had pulled off before.

Tounyo managed to block the first attack, but it threw his balance completely off. The second glanced off his kunai and cut a gash along his arm. He was still spinning when the third one came at him from the front, causing the blade to easily slip through his defense. Being a medic nin, he managed to just twist out of the way enough for the blade to slide just under his lung, keeping it from being a sure kill shot.

The two stared into each other's eyes, one with a satisfied smirk on his face. Tounyo grunted in pain but managed to lift one arm to grasp his foe's hand, which was still holding the blade buried in his chest. He then twisted his body so that it was more of an open stance before pulling the enemy towards him. The look of shock on the other ninja's face was quite satisfying, even as he felt the sword dig deeper into his chest. He whirled around, pumping chakra through his body to amp up the power, and punched the guy in the shoulder, where he was sure he would connect, utterly destroying the joint. The Mist nin went flying out of the column of water, blade left stuck in Tounyo's torso.

Tounyo looked around for a place he could just to so he could get out of the rising water pillar and heal himself. However, before he could even consider doing this, the water suddenly stopped and instead began to fall. He turned toward the ground, cursing. He could do little about the approaching ground; he couldn't do hand seals due to the sword in his shoulder without risking it sliding farther into his chest cavity and cutting through a lung.

He braced himself for impact as best he could. Before he was even close to hitting the ground though, he was snagged out of the air by an arm under his stomach and another around his waist. He hissed in pain as the flesh pressed together, causing it to get slightly cut by the blade. A half second later, he was placed on the ground carefully on his back. He motioned to the sword in his shoulder, and the figure gripped it and pulled it out forcefully, making him wince again.

Grimacing slightly, he sat up, unsurprised to find Rei's form sitting next to him with a supporting hand on his uninjured shoulder. He glanced past her to see Masaru in melee combat with the ninja that had used the jutsu on him. The pair must have finished off their two opponents and come to help him. He certainly wasn't going to complain, cause they had definitely saved him. He looked at Rei, his hands started to glow with green healing chakra as they moved to his wounded shoulder.

"I can take care of myself now. You should go help Masaru!"

Rei looked hesitant to move from his side, her concern clearly evident. He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but was having a hard time keeping the pain from showing on his face. It must have worked because he saw her determination set on her face before she jumped back into action.

Tounyo sighed, silently irritated with himself. He had tried to conserve chakra so that he would be useful for longer in this battle, but that had only backfired and resulted in him getting injured. Now, he would be of limited help for a good while. If he tried to move his arm too much, even with his healing jutsu, it would reopen the wound, so he was going to be severely limited in his motion, in addition to the chakra he was going to have to use to heal the wound. If anything, he had been counterproductive.

He disinfected the wound as he watched Rei finish off the remaining foe. He knew it would be hard to keep the water from the rain from getting in the wound. He sighed. He was going to have his work cut out for him…

Kizui felt his back get pushed against the wall behind him, a pair of hands keeping his own immobile at his side. He grunted and twisted his hand so that he could grip the hand that was holding him down as he pushed back against the other person. When her back hit the door behind her, he pressed his body against hers.

His tongue battling with hers the whole time.

He allowed his hands to roam over Uchiha Sakulana, increasing the pleasure for both of them, without going anywhere too private. He could invert his luck, after all, but not actually change others.

Heck, if anything she was the one controlling him. She grabbed his hands again and pinned them behind his body, pulling him against her even more firmly. Her pink shoulder length hair fell between them, getting caught in the kiss. She released one of his hands to brush it out of the way, pausing only momentarily in the battle of tongues. Before she could pin his arm again, he put his palm behind her head and pulled their mouths together forcefully, making her moan.

As he pushed harder against her, the door behind them suddenly opened, causing the both of them to fall, Kizui landing on top of Sakulana, straddling her. The pair glanced up in fear, expecting to find one of Sakulana's parents berating them, only to be confused when they found two unknown figures standing over them.

"Were these two seriously making out in a closet in the middle of an invasion?" asked one of them in disgust.

The other just shook his head. "Let's just kill them and keep moving."

At the word kill, the two Konoha chuunin were instantly in action. Kizui pulled a kunai out of his clothes and jammed it into the leg of the first speaker, who yelped in pain, before he leapt aside, allowing Sakulana to stand as well, lashing out to force the enemies to back off. Kizui was instantly launching kunai after kunai; where he pulled them from was unclear as he didn't have his usual five kunai pouches on him due to the party.

The Uchiha activated her kekkei genkai, glancing at Kizui. "We'll have to go back to what we were doing later. If there's an invasion going on, we need to help."

Kizui grinned, still throwing kunai. "I'd like that."

Sakulana smirked, already casting a genjutsu through her doujutsu. "I've got the one on the left."

"Yes ma'am," Kizui said, saluting. With that, the two darted forward into combat.


	57. Return Fire

((Alright guys, I'm sorry about how few updates there were this summer, but I had too many other things going on (mostly an internship), and for the lateness of this update (woulda been up yesterday, but my computer decided it wanted to have a virus seizure). This will, unfortunately, be the last one this summer. I know I won't be working over the winter holidays, so you should see three updates then.

Also, to the guy who reviewed signing the name Joker: I can't respond to a review if you don't actually sign in, even if you do sign the review. Thus, I will respond here: Yes, you will see him again soon. I'll get to it, I promise. However, in the future, I will not be responding to reviews that do not have an account linked to them.))

**Return Fire**

Sasuke finished off another Sound nin with a kunai to the back of the neck. He moved to help his youngest son, only to feel a spike of corrupted chakra pulse from the cursed mark on his neck, forcing him onto a knee, screaming.

Luckily, due to the chaos of the battlefield, the noise of shinobi combat and the cries of the dying, only a few heard him. Still, one of those few darted at him, looking to take advantage of his momentary weakness. The Uchiha barely managed to put up a defense, his tense body straining against his will. Even deflecting the attack caused another spike of pain to pump through him.

His eldest son kept him from having to defend any more by blasting a concentrated fire at the enemy, forcing him to retreat. As Koukatsu followed the man, Sasuke knelt there panting, trying to recover from his short bout of pain.

He had been feeling them all battle, but aside from the first one, they had been getting worse and worse. And he distinctly remembered what this meant.

Orochimaru wanted something.

And he was slowly working toward achieving it this very moment.

Only problem was that Sasuke had no idea where to find him. He couldn't even sense the man out based on his chakra, as every time the villain switched bodies, his chakra signature changed, even if only slightly. And considering he had been gone for nearly twenty years, who knew what had happened to his chakra signature.

Whatever it was, Sasuke only knew he couldn't sense his former sensei.

Sakura landed next to him, a concerned expression on her face. Sasuke just shook his head, lowering his arm from the mark on his neck. "I'm fine. Stop worrying about me."

His wife gave him a stern look. "When you have to be saved by your own son, I have reason to be worried."

Sasuke winced at the words but had to admit she had a point. Still, he scowled. "It's nothing I can't manage."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Let's go find Anko-san and see if she is suffering the same kind of pain as you."

The male Uchiha hissed, trying to make it sound like he disliked the idea when it was actually due to another spike of corrupt chakra. "Fine," he spat, startling his wife slightly. "Let's just get moving then."

Hotaru was getting frustrated. She, Hitayio, Chouji, and Kiba-sensei had been slowly pulling back since they had left the gate. They had been retreating back towards the shinobi barracks the whole time, due to the sheer quantity of enemies.

And it was incredibly irritating.

Don't get her wrong, the group had managed to kill quite a few enemy ninja, but there were just so many foes pouring through that gate.

She was fighting off another foe, putting him under a genjutsu in which he saw the ghosts of the dead that he knew. She had to act as a go between, as she could communicate with the spirits and then transfer that into the jutsu. It wasn't particularly effective as anything more than a distraction, as it only caused emotional distress at best. Still, she could at least take advantage of it if they weren't able to detect or dispel the jutsu.

She did just that against this opponent, sneaking up beside him while he discussed something with his dead mother, tears of happiness running down his face. Just as she got close enough to stab, he turned toward her, deflecting the blow, showing that he had only been playing along with her illusion. He took half a second to enjoy her look of shock before jamming his own kunai into her chest. She moved out of the way only enough for it to miss just above her lung.

She fell back on her ass, hand going up to clutch her wound and a look of panic on her face. The Mist ninja gave her a victorious smirk, raising a second knife to deliver the finishing blow. She raised her weapon in a feeble attempt to block, but needn't have bothered.

Before he could start his attack, a diagonal stream of fire was sprayed across his chest. The man screamed in pain, leaping backwards. He didn't even land before he had collapsed, a vicious burn cutting open his torso, showing his charred innards.

Hotaru removed the kunai from her wound and started to stand up, but fell halfway there. Before she hit the ground, she was caught around the arms, jarring her wound slightly but not as badly as if she had landed on the earth. After wincing, she looked up, startled.

She found a man, probably in his late twenties, grinning at her past rounded spectacles and a small snot bubble in his nose. "You really should pay more attention. Who knows when the enemy'll do something unexpected?"

She was too stunned to respond, even as she took note of the other Konoha shinobi that were moving past them, coming from the ninja barracks.

He followed her gaze and smiled softly. "Reinforcements are moving out. One gate is already closed, so we're attempting to get to the other two." He paused to examine her wound, making her blush as it was near her chest. "But we should probably get you to the hospital. Can't tell how bad that wound is."

He lifted her so that he was holding bridal style and started moving. Despite how red her face had become due to the close contact, Hotaru still managed to ask. "Who _are_ you?"

He gave her a soft smile. "Hanataro Udon."

She remained quiet for the rest of the trip, her nerves and injury getting the better of her.

Aitaro was in awe of the blond man in front of him. He knew Uzumaki Naruto was a legend, known as the strongest ninja in Konoha, even stronger than the Hokage, but to see him in action was an entirely different matter. He had started by obliterating one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist with what seemed like relative ease. He had continued on to utterly decimate the invading forces, almost single-handedly blocking the gate.

All with only variations of the Rasengan!

Aitaro was taking out some of the ones that Naruto didn't eliminate, but compared to that monster of a shinobi, he was doing practically nothing.

Still, even with Naruto there, almost half of the enemies were making it past. They needed help badly if they were going to defend the village, even if they could keep themselves alive.

It was as he finished off an enemy with a crushing slab of rock that he sensed more foes start to fall around him. He glanced around and saw four more Konoha ninja nearby, preventing more of the Mist and Sound forces from getting by. He noted one of them, a gray-haired ninja he recognized as Copy-Nin Kakashi, stop next to Naruto and speak with him briefly. Two of the others he recognized as the other two living teachers of the Konoha Twelve, Maito Gai and Yuhi Kurenai. The fourth landed next to him, causing him to grin.

"Konohamaru-sempai," he said, grateful to have the extra help.

"Looked like you all could use some help down here, eh Aitaro-kun?" The younger ninja nodded, still grinning. "Well, we're all the assistance you're going to see for a while, as most of our shinobi are killing off the enemies that are already in the city."

Aitaro shook his head. "That's plenty. With who we have here, we shouldn't have any problem."

Konohamaru gave him a slightly grim expression. "Don't be so certain."

The younger nin didn't have much time to register what was said, as he was forced to dodge out of the way of an incoming tornado of water. Shaking his head, he pulled his attention back to the battle at hand.

Magusa fell to a knee as the vortex of water around her froze in place. Only a small portion of it remained unfrozen, which dropped to the ground lifelessly, creating an entrance into the dome. The former Mist nin wiped the sweat from her brow and the tears from her eyes. That jutsu had taken a lot out of her, emotionally and physically. A second later, it didn't matter, as the rain that had been joining the vortex fell through its center to soak her.

Rising to her feet, she looked through the rain. She knew only one person that was strong enough with Water and Wind Jutsu to be able to freeze her entire vortex.

She watched Toukan enter, followed by three other Kiri nin.

Magusa didn't know what to do. She knew Toukan wouldn't show her any mercy, especially since he would know it had to be her protecting the gate. She wouldn't stand a chance against four enemies, and it didn't help that that jutsu had tired her out.

She almost sighed in relief when she saw two of them stop just inside the entrance to act as lookouts. All she had to do was stall the other two until help from Konoha could arrive.

"Magusa," Toukan said darkly as he stepped within ten feet of her, his voice much deeper than when she had last heard it, contrasting with his still very feminine appearance. He brushed his long, straight black hair aside as he continued. "I knew I sensed your chakra signature."

"Toukan," she responded with as much firmness as she could in her slightly exhausted state. "What are you doing here? Kirigakure has no reason to attack Konoha! Why would the Mizukage declare an invasion!" She hoped he would explain, as not only was she confused, but it would provide a great delay as she waited for reinforcements.

Toukan chuckled darkly, which could either be considered good or bad as it usually meant that he was about to bestow some emotional trauma on someone, but it also meant that she would be able to stall him. Now, however, she was worried about what he knew that could possibly be so damaging to her psyche.

"The weak woman that you're referring to? You're right, she wouldn't attack Konoha." At that, even the Mist nin that had stopped behind him looked confused. "No, she's long gone, probably dead. We have a new Mizukage now." The other Mist nin looked as shocked as Magusa felt. Toukan gave the other nin an annoyed glare. "And you should have figured it out for yourself by now. You have the same information that I do."

Magusa watched as the confused Mist nin took a few steps back and fell into a thoughtful silence. Toukan, deciding he wasn't worth the effort, turned back to her with a frightful grin.

He knew how much she had looked up to Terumi-sama. She was everything Magusa wanted to be: strong, collected, had a sense of humor, and most of all, _recognized_. The fact that Terumi admired Tsunade of Konoha meant that the Slug princess had a fair amount of her respect as well.

But Terumi would always be her true idol.

And she would never attack Konoha…

So did that mean that what Toukan had said was true?

Magusa didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was there. It didn't help that Toukan probably knew more about the situation than she did; he was in Kirigakure after all, while she had been here in Konoha for the better part of a year. But Terumi-sama couldn't really be gone.

Could she?

Magusa felt fear grip her and took a half step back.

She knew Toukan could see the emotion run across her face, as his face now wore a pleased smirk. He always did take an unhealthy pleasure in causing others pain.

Magusa grit her teeth in determination. No, she wouldn't believe him. Terumi-sama couldn't be gone. She was too important, too strong. He would make something like that up just to cause the pain, especially since he knew her better than he knew most. He knew that was the type of thing that would cause her the most pain.

She set herself in a battle stance, eyes staring into Toukan's, silently denying all he was telling her. His eyes narrowed in anger. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stall any longer without a fight, but at least it seemed like he was the only one she would have to fight. She just wished she were able to use her jutsu against him, but they would really only be counterproductive.

She was, therefore, ready when he started a set of seals. "Suiton: Reika no Jutsu (Water Style: Subzero Jutsu)!" She recognized the jutsu immediately and leapt toward the frozen walls of her vortex, using them to cover her from the ice needles that the rain falling upon her became. She defended her head with a pair of kunai but even then took a couple of needles in her arms and shoulders.

To her shock, Toukan appeared beside her just as the jutsu was ending, kunai already stabbing her in the stomach. She shrieked in pain, falling back against the ice. Toukan took the time to bask in the glow he always got from causing agony. With a demented grin on his face, he pulled out another kunai and thrust at her throat.

She had just enough strength left, between her exhaustion and the wound to deflect it into her shoulder, effectively making her arm useless.

With a scowl, Toukan went to pull out another kunai and finish her.

Both of them were shocked when a foot connected firmly with his side, sending him flying into another wall of ice. Magusa looked up weakly, falling on her rear against the wall. She couldn't help but smile softly at who she found there.

Hato's teal eyes met hers and gave her a reassuring smile. "You alright, Magusa-chan?" The young woman grunted but nodded. He turned his attention back to Toukan as the Mist nin stood up, clutching his side slightly. "Good. You relax there. This guy's mine now."

Magusa nodded with relief, noting vaguely that the Nebin's father was in combat with another pair of enemies. She rested her head against the cold wall behind her, letting her eyes close. She had defined her allegiance.

Now, she'd have to live with it.

Jiraiya had been slowly and silently picking off enemies that approached the civilian safe house. He was too old to join in the full out war, or at least that was his opinion. As such, he had been keeping out of the way for the most part. Even then, his muscles were complaining.

Besides, this gave him a brilliant view of the few hot civilian women that had already put their nighties on that were being shepherded his way. How could he pass that up?

That is, until he felt a very strong, very evil presence. His eyes widened when he realized what that chakra felt like. Worse yet, he could sense Tsunade-hime's chakra near its source.

Without even a glance back, he darted toward the intense chakra. If it was really a Jinchuuriki, she would need all the help she could get. Besides, the genin and chuunin he had left behind could deal with the small-fry that he had been keeping at bay.

With his decision made, he moved faster than he had in almost fifteen years.

A young man with high cheek bones and a sharp chin covered by the stubble of an unshaved beard gasped in a deep breath as he surfaced in the middle of a large body of water. His dirty blond hair clung to the base of his neck as he took deep breaths. He ignored his nearly destroyed clothes, actually somewhat glad as it might have weighed him down some, and turned his hazel eyes to his new surroundings. He cursed softly to himself when he saw no land within visible range, unintentionally swallowing some water, which he now realized was salty. He was stuck somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Great…

He shook his head to clear it as he continued to tread water. He could sense other chakra signatures approaching him from below. "I have to get out of here," he muttered to himself, his desperation edging into his voice. He propped himself up on top of the water with focused chakra and stood up on top of it. Then an idea struck him.

He went through a quick set of seals. "Ninpo: Suto-mu no Boufuu no Jutsu(Secret Art: Storm of Storms Jutsu)" With that, he started off towards what he figured to be the west, based on the sun, hoping it would lead him to civilization. He hadn't escaped after three years of that torture just to get captured again.

For once, he was glad for the demon sealed within him. He glanced over his shoulder at the rather vicious storm that was forming. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had a chance of making this escape, nor would his muscles be strong enough for it.

He darted off, taking advantage of his higher than average speed to put some distance between himself and his pursuers.


End file.
